Alderney, an island in the English Channel, has received a plethora of applications from online casinos to re-establish in the tax haven it has offered in response to the changes made to the UK's legislations on online casinos and poker rooms in September of 2007.
Alderney's decision to cut tax back from 20% to 0% for online casinos is believed to be an attempt to draw the attention of operators of online casinos and the industry in general. The move, which will clearly make establishing online casinos simpler, is expected to generate a £10 billion global industry, and is intended to provide a respectable and trustworthy regulatory framework for online casinos and gaming companies. Some of this framework will incorporate an Anti Money Laundering Code, a Gambling Control Commission, internal operators for online casinos system control, and even a stage for customer response.
Aside from the tax benefits, many online casinos are flocking to Alderney for the advertising capabilities within the UK, which was listed as one of the few approved countries on the "white list" of acceptable operators for British advertising, along with Isle of Man and Gibraltar. One of these online casinos is Totesport Casino, which confirmed last week that it would be leaving the Caribbean island of Curacao within the month, and admitted that its decision not to move to the UK was based heavily on the tax system designed for online casinos.
There are already 33 full licensees, including Gala Coral, William Hill, Harrah's, and Rank, as well as several European online casinos.
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