Parliament passes new gambling law amid rapid change in global sector 

New gambling legislation passed by the Gibraltar Parliament on Wednesday will update an effective but ageing framework and create flexibility for Gibraltar to compete in a fast-changing international market. 

Presenting the new Gambling Bill to Parliament, Nigel Feetham, the Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry, underlined the importance of the legislation as Gibraltar seeks opportunities outside the traditional UK market. 

He said the sector remained resilient despite “documented headwinds” such as the UK increase in online gaming duties, but acknowledged these had added pressure on operators and sharpened the need for diversification.  

“We are now working intensively and at pace to bridge, as far as possible, the gap created by the recent UK decision,” Mr Feetham said, adding that the UK market currently accounts for around 75% of gross revenues in Gibraltar’s gambling sector. 

Mr Feetham told Parliament that he had attended ICE in Barcelona in January, where he met potential investors, and said he expected a licence application would “shortly be submitted” to the Gambling Commissioner. 

He also recently attended Consensus Hong Kong, which he described as the leading digital asset conference in Asia, and that Gibraltar was now working closely with interested parties there too with a view to licensing them in Gibraltar.  

The message was that the Government is seeking new revenue streams and new entrants as the sector adjusts to changes in its biggest market.  

“Whilst the corporate tax revenues because of the UK tax changes cannot be fully restored by the end of this year through new entrants alone, the ongoing growth of the sector will create important future revenue streams,” he said. 

At the centre of that effort is the new gambling legislation, which Mr Feetham said had been years in the making and extensively consulted on.  

He described the legislation as one of the most carefully considered Bills in Parliament’s history, saying it had been shaped over a long period during which the market had changed significantly.  

Those changes, he said, included the migration of EU gambling business away from Gibraltar after Brexit, the development of cloud infrastructure, the growth of multi-jurisdictional operating models and an increasingly crowded B2B supply chain. 

He said the old framework, while “remarkably flexible and robust”, was now stretched and overdue for modernisation.  

A central aim of the legislation is to move the focus of regulation away from a narrow reliance on where technology is located and toward where substantive management and control of a gambling operation is actually carried out.  

Mr Feetham said the legislation was needed to bring into scope businesses with a real operational presence in Gibraltar, reflecting how the sector now works in practice.  

The legislation also widens the scope of regulation across the gambling supply chain, especially in areas that have grown rapidly in recent years, including marketing. 

While Gibraltar had become “a centre of excellence for gambling marketing”, he warned that some of this work currently sat outside the scope of regulation and now needed to be brought within formal control.  

He said the promotion of gambling products and customer relationship management had the capacity, “if unchecked and unregulated, to damage the reputation of the industry and the wider regulatory regime”.  

The legislation sets out four regulatory objectives including preserving confidence in gambling markets; promoting gambling that is fair, responsible and safer for consumers; preventing gambling from becoming a source of crime or financial crime; and protecting Gibraltar’s wider public interest, including its reputation and macro-economic interests.  

Mr Feetham said the new framework would define key industry terms, clarify the powers and responsibilities of the Gambling Commissioner and the minister as licensing authority, establish licensing conditions including substantive presence requirements, and create a framework for regulating key individuals and post-holders. 

It would also codify rules on control of regulated entities, strengthen evidence-gathering powers and introduce a broader set of enforcement tools. 

Mr Feetham said the existing law effectively offered only “the nuclear option” of licence suspension or revocation for breaches.  

The new legislation, by contrast, would allow a greater range of proportionate sanctions and a more structured statutory approach to investigations and enquiries. A new Gambling Appeals Tribunal would balance those stronger powers.  

Another key feature is flexibility. Mr Feetham said the legislation would allow Gibraltar to respond more quickly to technological change and new gambling models, either by bringing new products within scope or excluding activities where that was appropriate. 

He cited proposed amendments at committee stage that would take free prize draws for houses or cars outside the scope of gambling, in line with UK law, so as to allow prize draw companies to consider Gibraltar as a base for inward investment.  

At the same time, he said the power would remain to regulate different models in future where necessary.  

Mr Feetham insisted the stronger legal framework would not alter Gibraltar’s broader approach to the industry. 

“If you are prepared to be a good corporate citizen, paying your taxes, protecting consumers and guarding against the facilitation of financial crime then there is a welcome for you in the jurisdiction,” he said. 

“We are open for business and will continue to be innovative.”  

He said the legislation was only the first stage, with much of the industry’s attention now turning to transition and implementation.  

Work has already started on a digitalisation project which, over time, should allow licensees to apply online. 

For Gibraltar, though, the wider objective is clear.  

The legislation is intended to future-proof a major sector, preserve its contribution to the economy and create room for controlled growth beyond a UK market that has become more costly. 

“What will not change is Gibraltar’s support for an important sector of the economy and a pragmatic approach to regulation,” Mr Feetham said. 

The legislation received support from the GSD, whose MP Roy Clinton told Parliament that there was “no political divide” between Government and Opposition on financial services and gaming given their critical contribution to Gibraltar’s economy. 

DIGITAL ASSETS 

Parliament also passed the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill 2026, which provides that certain digital assets including crypto-tokens can be recognised as personal property under Gibraltar law.  

The law is based on equivalent legislation in the UK, following a Law Commission review which concluded that some digital assets should attract property rights. The UK Act came into force on December 2, 2025.  

The legislation does not attempt to define every type of digital asset in law. Instead, it leaves further development to the courts, allowing the legal position to evolve in line with technological change.  

The legislation forms part of wider efforts to support Gibraltar’s digital asset sector and broaden the economy. 

“By staying at the cutting edge of legal frameworks and a responsive regulatory approach, Gibraltar can continue to meet the evolving needs of this fast-moving sector,” Mr Feetham said.  

“If we fail to do so, we risk falling behind and missing the opportunity to secure our position as a market leader in digital assets.”  

“We have been clear about the need to broaden our economic base and reducing our dependency on the UK market.” 

“Over 18 months we have engaged with industry stakeholders and regulators, underpinning the Government’s policy that we should pursue opportunities with renewed pace and clarity of purpose, a strategy we set from the start, one that positions Gibraltar to demonstrate agility, competitiveness, and confidence in our future.”