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Brexit impacted any market and it represents also a considerable revolution for the gambling companies operating in Italy that shall restructure their business.
Italian gaming law requires for both online operators and AWP/VLT licensees that:
- the license holder is a company with registered office in the European Economic Area and
- the technical infrastructure, hardware and software, dedicated to the activities subject of the license is in a country of the European Economic Area.
What is the impact for gambling operators?
The European Economic Area includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. If the UK exits the European Union as a consequence of Brexit, it is likely to exit also the European Economic Area.
Therefore companies established in the UK, including Gibraltar, might not meet the requirements above and will need to either relocate to a different EEA country or assign their license to an EEA company. Likewise, the technical infrastructure dedicated to the license shall be moved to an EEA country.
What is the impact for gambling suppliers?
The issue is not relevant only for operators, but also for suppliers. The requirement to place the technical infrastructure dedicated to the license in an EEA country might lead to the renegotiation of gaming supply agreements.
No panic, but it’s time to take a decision
With the upcoming award of new betting shop and online gaming licenses, operators might take this opportunity to adopt a long term approach also taking into account the Brexit implications.
It might be possible that arrangements will be reached in order to ensure that the UK, or only Gibraltar, remain part of the European Economic Area, but this situation of uncertainty is useful for the adoption a long term approach.
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