Mansion Online Gambling Group to Stay in Gibraltar
Following rumors that the Mansion online gambling group would be leaving the gaming-friendly jurisdiction of Gibraltar to relocate business operations elsewhere, reports on the contrary have surfaced. The Gibraltar publication, “Panorama”, has reported that aside from a few staff cutbacks, Mansion isn’t going anywhere (Singapore and Israel, to be exact).
This is good news for Gibraltar, considering that Mansion employs some 150 people in the British territory. And let’s be honest - it’s good news for Mansion. Gibraltar has one of the strictest and most respected online gambling regulation regimes in the world (UK casino 32Red is regulated here). On the UK Gambling Commission’s whitelist for approved licensing jurisdictions, Gibraltar offers a level of credibility that operators simply can’t get some places elsewhere.
As mentioned, the rumors abounding were that Mansion was thinking of moving shop to Singapore and Israel. The prospects of Singapore certainly seemed reasonable, considering that Mansion’s online casino and internet betting operations largely cater to the Asian community. Furthermore, a low tax rate of 8% in Singapore would be tempting for any online casino operator.
However, the rumors that Mansion could also be operating out of Israel have been a little less digestible to say the least. Israel has been quite antagonistic toward online gambling operators (Bwin is a recent example), and despite having some excellent technological innovation in the online gambling field (many software companies have close ties to Israel), Israel would hardly be ideal for an online gambling operator of Mansion’s status.
Perhaps the confusion lied in the fact that Mansion is to be making cutbacks within their IT operations? Indeed, it seems more reasonable that Mansion would be looking to Israel for some IT help. Furthermore, Mansion says they will be expanding their marketing and sales staff, which Israel could also help out with. The good news for Gibraltar, which has incurred some heavy cutbacks at the helm of 888 and Party Gaming, is that Mansion can still branch out while staying put where online gambling regulation is at its best.
