New Alderney Licensing Approach Set for January Launch

The Alderney Government has unanimously approved a legislative amendment to allow the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) to launch its new licensing framework as planned next year, enabling it to better serve both consumer-facing and business-to-business online gaming providers.

Set for launch on January 1st 2010, the new licensing framework is designed to enable the AGCC to tailor licences to the specific focus of each licensee.

"We are grateful to the Alderney Government for the swiftness with which they have dealt with this legislative amendment which means that we can launch the new licensing regime on time, as planned, from the 1st of January 2010," said Andre Wilsenach, CEO of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.

"The new licensing scheme will not imply a major change in our regulatory approach but it recognises the fundamental changes that have and are still taking place in the eGambling industry where we see a much greater level of specialisation in the areas of business to customer and business to business relationships."

Wilsenach said that the new scheme also seeks to make Alderney more compatible with other regulated jurisdictions in the world, specifically Europe, where licensing and the regulation of the business to customer relationship are moving towards the point of consumption.

"Against this background, we already are, and will continue to enter into agreements with regulators in Europe and elsewhere with the objective of facilitating regulatory cooperation and jurisdictional equivalence," he added.

Robin Le Prevost, Head of E-Commerce Development at the AGCC, said that the new framework was drafted from the outset with, not only the interests of the jurisdiction in mind, but also operators and other regulated jurisdictions at its very core.

"We believe we have an important contribution to make to the sector going forward," he said. "Our first class technical infrastructure, our experience of setting technical standards for gaming specific software backed up by a competitive fiscal regime are all powerful reasons for considering Alderney as a base for conducting eGambling, facts which have already established Alderney as the largest operational base for eGambling in the world.

"We strongly believe that our reputation as a modern and transparent jurisdiction, which is recognised by many countries throughout the world as well as the OECD, who have white listed Guernsey and Alderney, places the jurisdiction in prime position to build relationships and provide services to the countries within the EU and other parts of the world."