ENVELOPES full of cash, drug habits funded by EU grants and police taking payments to legalise prostitutes – you name it, it has happened in Spain.

 

 Add to those a snail-paced justice system and, a law society in Malaga that fails to scrutinize bent lawyers, and things start to look distinctly cloudy. Consider too that last week Spain’s top anti-corruption lawyer, Baltasar Garzon, was suspended from his post for illegally tapping the phones of lawyers, and most will come to the same conclusion. “Yes, corruption is certainly endemic in Spain,” says Gwilym Rhys-Jones, an Estepona-based financial expert. “Sadly there is a tradition of it and it became institutionalised since the late 1980s as nobody was dealing with it from the top down.” There is certainly nowhere better to highlight the problem than here on the Costa del Sol, where in Marbella for over two decades you could only get anything done if you were prepared to pay for it. Under the current Malaya corruption trial, centred around Marbella Town Hall, which has been going for over a year. Over a hundred councillors, mayors, businessmen and civil servants are currently on trial for taking backhanders totalling up to 2.4 billion euros. And sadly, the same state of affairs was taking place at hundreds of town halls around the country, with a central government apparently prepared to turn a blind eye. It led to hotels and golf courses being built in national parks, developments installed in river flood plains and hundreds of thousands of illegal – and unsellable – homes around the country. It comes as no surprise then that Transparency International has listed Spain as more corrupt than Uruguay, Chile and Qatar, and almost on a par with of Botswana – quite a feat for the fourth richest nation in the European Union. And while some might like to point the finger at the right or the left, the range of cases shows that bending the rules for personal gain goes right across the spectrum. The Conservative PP party has often been in the spotlight – most recently thanks to the Gurtel case, in Valencia – but the PSOE socialist party, particularly with the ERE pension scandal in Andalucia, certainly takes some beating. Even the royal family may have dipped its toes in the murky waters, with King Juan Carlos’ son-in-law about to stand trial for a misuse of public funds and embezzlement. So where did it all begin? Franco regarded it as the ‘necessary lubrication for the system’, according to historian Stanley Payne. While central government appears to be largely free of endemic corruption, in the regions it is quite a different story. In Andalucia, for example, UGT trade union leader Manuel Pastrana believes as many as 75 per cent of the region’s town halls are corrupt. This is partly down to the fact that much of Spain’s corruption is linked to illegal planning, which is said to be more profitable than drug dealing – mainly because tourism is the biggest earner on the Costa del Sol. It’s a simple tale, and sadly all too common. Developers purchase non-urban, rural land for knock-down prices, then pay corrupt town hall mayors to reclassify the land as available to develop. This leaves the developers to build whatever they like – and it is arrangements like this that explain the illegal 411-bedroom Algarrobico hotel in Almeria’s Cabo de Gata natural park – which will thankfully be demolished any day now. The question is, why are so many mayors and councillors tempted to the dark side, considering the possible environmental and criminal consequences? Aside from describing Spain as having the ‘slowest justice system in the known world’, investigator Rhys-Jones argues that it is human nature to be tempted by money once it’s dangled in front of you. “When people see a massive amount of money, they can’t help but steal it. It’s human nature,” he says, using the unscrupulous former Marbella mayor Jesus Gil as his example. Jesus Gil was described as the bad apple that spoilt Marbella’s bunch “Gil was a crook, but he started out with good intentions. Marbella was a mess in the 1980s. Property wasn’t selling. It was a dump filled with drugs and hookers. So Gil started a political party, the GAL, to try and sort it out.” But this apparent do-gooder turned resident evil, with many describing Gil – who was convicted in 2002 – as being the bad apple that spoiled Marbella’s bunch. Either way his legacy was a disaster and has led to the following three mayors – as well as his main cohort, planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, who became the svengali of the operation – all facing prison. Much of the corruption comes down to backgrounds and a lack of education, believes Marbella-based lawyer Antonio Flores. “A lot of mayors have previously had rural-based jobs, without the ability to make any money,” he explains. “The moment they have responsibility, the temptation to make money becomes too great. After four years in power, they’ll often have to go back to their tractors,” he says. A classic example of a rags-to-riches mayor is Julian Munoz, also heavily implicated in the Malaya case, who worked as a waiter before running Marbella Town Hall in 2002. Roca, too, had been on the dole before going on to pilfer 30 million euros. Planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, the main man in the Malaya case Flores compares town hall councillors with more prominent politicians in central government who are less reliant on get-rich-quick methods: “It’s not so difficult to get another job when you’re in a higher political position,” he says. The good news is that most commentators agree that corruption in Spain is on its way out. “The Malaya case was where the mentality changed,” estimates Flores. “It was a turning point for corruption and the Marbella run by thugs completely collapsed when they were all arrested. “As Spain becomes more civilised, we are slowly getting rid of corruption,” he continues. “But it has definitely not gone completely,” argues Rhys Jones. “That will take quite a few more decades.” As for shamed Judge Garzon, opinion remains firmly divided on whether he too was a man who let power corrupt him… or whether he has been silenced by a country whose corruption will be harder to iron out than some may hope. Big cases Malaya Planning chief Juan Antonio Roca is at the heart of this 2.4 billion euro scandal in Marbella. The unelected Roca operated a cash-for-permissions scheme, which saw over 18,000 homes built illegally. Gurtel Businessman Francisco Correa gave money to PP bosses in Valencia in return for lucrative contracts with the regional government. ERE The Junta is being investigated in a 647m euro retirement scandal, where posts were created in non-existent companies in order to defraud public funds. Ballena Blanca One of the largest money laundering cases in Europe, with 21 people accused of investing proceeds from drug trafficking and prostitution in property via over a thousand companies.

Read More

MP Eric Joyce charged with assault

MP Eric Joyce has been charged with three counts of common assault after a disturbance at a House of Commons bar. The MP for Falkirk, who has been suspended by the Parliamentary Labour Party, was arrested on Wednesday evening after police were called. Mr Joyce, 51, of Bo'ness, near Falkirk, has been bailed and will appear at West London Magistrates' Court on 7 March. The allegations relate to Conservative MP for Pudsey, Stuart Andrew, a second Tory MP and a Labour whip. Mr Andrew had been in the bar on Wednesday following a Commons event organised by his Conservative colleague MP Andrew Percy, for the Speaker of the Canadian Parliament. Having spent nearly 24 hours in custody, Mr Joyce was seen being driven away from the rear of Belgravia police station, in central London, late on Thursday after being charged. Warning to MPs The BBC understands officers involved in the investigation returned to the Commons on Thursday evening to interview eyewitnesses. The allegations relate to a disturbance in the Strangers Bar, which is reserved for MPs and their guests. Mr Bercow told MPs after Mr Joyce was arrested: "I take this matter very seriously, as do the House authorities. "I would ask that no further reference should be made to these reports in the Chamber." Mr Joyce, a former Army major, was elected in a by-election in December 2000 and has served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to a number of government ministers since 2003. He was PPS to the then defence secretary Bob Ainsworth until 2009, and prior to that had been a parliamentary aide to John Hutton, Mike O'Brien and Margaret Hodge.

Read More

Spain's banking sector set to shrink to about 10 lenders

This year, Spain’s banking sector looks set to shrink to about 10 lenders from more than 40 before the economic crisis, as the government forces banks to recognise steep losses from a housing crash. Small and medium-sized banks will scramble to join forces to meet capital requirements implicit in a new law demanding lenders write down up to 80 per cent of the book value of real estate assets on their balance sheets.  Click here for Cloud Computing     Also Read   Related Stories News Now - 24-hr deadline for Kingfisher to submit revised schedule - Kingfisher assures to restore normal schedule in 5-7 days - Indian banks eye assets of European counterparts - It is time to take money off the table: Jim Walker - Swiss solicits tourists from India amidst EU crisis - Abheek Barua & Shivom Chakravarti: Risk-on in a sweet spot Particular focus would rest on the country’s fourth-largest bank by market value, Bankia. Fears persist over its ability to fund losses from its heavy exposure to the property sector. Only a handful of banks — international leaders Santander and BBVA, domestic lender CaixaBank and Basque Country savings bank Kutxa — are considered strong enough to remain independent and cover capital holes with their own profits. Bankia has insisted it does not plan a link-up with Barcelona-based counterpart CaixaBank, but market sources say it would be hard for the bank to go it alone. "It’s true there were overtures towards CaixaBank, but that has gone cold. It seems CaixaBank is the only one interested in Bankia. BBVA and Santander do not seem up for it," said one banking source. Another expressed doubt Bankia could deal alone, with Euro 3 billion of capital needs with annual net operating profits of Euro 1.67 billion and with its parent company BFA still owing Euro 4.1 billion of state loans given out last year. "The numbers simply don’t add up," the second banking source said. If Bankia opts for a tie-up, it could win more time to write down losses related to real estate. The government has given banks one year to write down losses, but would extend it to two years for lenders involved in a merger process.

Read More

The prison population in Gibraltar last year was the largest in a decade

The prison population in Gibraltar last year was the largest in a decade, according to the latest annual report from the Gibraltar Prison Board. The average number of prisoners on any given day last year stood at 71, compared to 54 in 2010.   Just ten years ago, the daily average inmate population was less than 20 and did not rise above 40 until 2009. Since then, it has climbed steadily year on year. At the end of 2011 there were 77 people in HMP Windmill Hill serving custodial sentences or remanded in custody pending trial. According to the report, the total number of receptions at Gibraltar’s prison – a figure that could include multiple admissions by one or more individuals - last year was 327, compared to 276 for 2010. WOMEN The report by the Gibraltar Prison Board highlighted concern about the prison’s ability to cope with an increase in the number of female prisoners serving time. The female wing at HMP Windmill Hill has only six cells but on a number of occasions last year there were more than six women jailed at any given time. When this happened, the overspill of female prisoners was housed during the night in another wing used for male inmates who must be kept separate from the main prison population. During the day, the women in this wing were transferred to the female wing. The Board’s main concern was that there was only one female prison guard on duty at any given time, irrespective of the number of women in custody. “The Superintendent has informed the Board that he is satisfied with the way the Female Wing is being manned by one female prison officer,” the Board’s report said. “This follows the concerns of the Board that one officer may not be sufficient when this wing is fully or over occupied.”

Read More

Odyssey, however, has so far opposed any attempt to return the objects that remained in Gibraltar, whose fate falls outside the U.S. rulings in favor of Spain.

 

Spanish officials Tuesday started inspecting 595,000 gold and silver coins and other objects plucked from a 19th-century shipwreck and stored in a Florida warehouse. The examination began after a lengthy legal battle with the American treasure hunting company that recovered the trove. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors On the orders of a U.S. district court, experts from the Spanish Culture Ministry gained access to the warehouse, which is in Sarasota and where the company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, had stored the objects. Meanwhile, two Hercules transport planes from the Spanish Air Force left Tuesday morning for Florida, paving the way for the repatriation to Spain of a treasure weighing about 17 metric tons and with an estimated value of several hundred million euros. The Spanish Culture Ministry said Tuesday that no date had been set for the military planes to return from Florida with the trove. However, it said in a statement that Spain would complete its inspection and take official custody of the trove Friday. Melinda J. MacConnel, vice president and general counsel for Odyssey, which is based in Tampa, said the forced return of the trove to Spain was in fact “a sad day for Spanish cultural heritage.” She said in a statement that Spain had been “very shortsighted in this case,” notably because it “failed to consider that in the future no one will be incentivized to report underwater finds.” Instead, she predicted, “anything found with a potential Spanish interest will be hidden or even worse, melted down or sold on eBay.” Odyssey recovered the treasure in 2007 from the Atlantic Ocean floor after finding the wreck off the coast of Portugal thanks to a remote-controlled underwater robot. The operation, codenamed Black Swan, took the coins and objects from the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, a Spanish frigate that was intercepted and sunk by the British in 1804. The treasure hunters then moved the trove to Gibraltar before taking back most of it to Florida — to the fury of the Spanish authorities. In the ensuing American legal battle, Spain successfully defended its claim that it maintained ownership of the ship after more than 200 years as part of its historical property rights under international law. Although a U.S. court had already ruled in Spain’s favor in 2009, Odyssey continued to challenge Spain’s ownership claims. As recently as last week, a federal court in Tampa dismissed a claim by Odyssey to receive $412,000 in compensation from Spain for the cost of storing the objects since their recovery. The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, rejected this month Odyssey’s petition for an emergency stay to prevent Spain from repatriating the objects immediately. But while almost five years of legal battle in the U.S. appear to have come to a close, Spanish archaeologists want to press ahead with separate criminal charges, in a court in La Linea de la Concepción, the Spanish town that is the gateway to Gibraltar. An initial lawsuit was filed there against Odyssey in 2007, for damages to Spain’s historical patrimony and illegal trafficking of historical items, not only in relation to the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes recovery but also other deep-sea search missions carried out by Odyssey in Spanish waters since 2001. “We need criminal sanctions so as to set a strong precedent and ensure that such activities that destroy archaeological patrimony cannot be repeated,” said José María Lancho, a Spanish lawyer who represents Nerea Arqueologia, a company formed by archaeologists affiliated to the University of Málaga. “Even if it is good news that this treasure is now returning to Spain, the archaeological damage is irreparable because nobody except Odyssey will ever be able to understand exactly where and how these objects were found.” Mr. Lancho compared Odyssey’s business approach to somebody finding a manuscript and then selling some of its pages separately to reap higher profits. Mr. Lancho said that he and other plaintiffs would take the case to a national judicial authority if the judge in La Linea failed to rule on the case swiftly, now that the U.S. legal battle had come to a close. Last week, Spain’s culture minister, José Ignacio Wert, already welcomed news that “the treasure is on its way back to Spain.” He said that it was too early to determine how Spain would showcase the trove but that it would “probably be distributed among different national museums.” In the meantime, the Spanish government is expected to focus its efforts on retrieving the part of the trove that was left by Odyssey in storage in Gibraltar, a territory that has itself been at the heart of a lengthy sovereignty dispute between Spain and Britain. Odyssey, however, has so far opposed any attempt to return the objects that remained in Gibraltar, whose fate falls outside the U.S. rulings in favor of Spain.

Read More

The Gibraltar Government is launching an extension to the Gibraltar Laws website

 

The Gibraltar Government is launching an extension to the Gibraltar Laws website that will provide access to electronic copies of Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and Privy Council judgments. The new information can be found at the Gibraltar Laws website www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi 543 judgments have been put on the system initially and additional judgments will continue to be added as they become available. The earliest judgment available dates back to 1812 concerning a Privy Council ruling on land tenure. The website contains all reports of decisions by the Privy Council pertaining to Gibraltar; all judgments published by Law Reports International and contained in their Gibraltar Law Reports volumes commencing 1988 relating to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court; all judgments published in the Gibraltar Law Reports volume 1812-1977 and all law reports published in the 4th supplement to the Gibraltar Gazette covering the years 1978-79. The Government acknowledges that work on this website was carried out by the previous administration. Commenting on the launch of the website, the Minister responsible for Justice, Gilbert Licudi, said; “As part of the Government’s commitment to e-government, I am delighted that we are now providing electronic access to these important cases. Online access to these judgments will be an important tool for lawyers working in Gibraltar and others who may wish to research decisions of the Gibraltar courts. It is also important for practitioners and professionals outside Gibraltar who will be able to keep abreast of developments in Gibraltar law and jurisprudence. The database is under constant development and will continue to have more judgments added to it. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judgments between 1980 and 1987 inclusive will be added shortly, as will judgments from 2010 onwards. This website is an important first step in working towards making information on the justice system accessible to all. I am working closely with the Judiciary and the Courts with a view to adding more information on Supreme Court sentencing and Judicial Reviews in the future, as well as a new website for the Gibraltar Courts Service that will provide more information on the work of the courts.”

Read More

Prime Minister David Cameron Evades Gibraltar Issue

 

British Prime Minister David Cameron recognized Tuesday that he agreed with Spain regarding the international campaign against the legitimate governments of Iran and Syria but he refused to talk about the situation of the Rock of Gibraltar.   After a meeting with Spanish government President Mariano Rajoy, the British Prime Minister said the oil embargo against Iran is for Tehran to change its policies and abandon what Cameron called "nuclear weapons plans." However, the Iranian government stated it is developing a civilian atomic energy project with peaceful objectives, despite recent provocations from western countries, which included the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists, as part of the actions against Tehran. Cameron also said that the United Kingdom and Spain share the commitment to impose sanctions against Syria and the government headed by Bashar Al Assad, now suffering a wave of violence provoked by armed mercenaries infiltrated from abroad. But on the jurisdiction of the Rock of Gibraltar, Cameron refused to negotiate its future with the Spanish government without taking its inhabitants into account. The Rock of Gibraltar is located in the south of the Spanish Peninsula and is under British domination since 1713. According to Cameron, the people of Gibraltar (many of them of British descent) are the ones to decide their future. "On this aspect the UK policy is unchanged," he said. Rajoy said that "we have talked about Gibraltar, and the Foreign Ministers will keep on discussing the problem in the future; we have different positions, but we will keep talking about it."

Read More

Gibraltar to Decide Its Own Future, Britain Tells Spain

Britain will not negotiate with Spain on the question of sovereignty over Gibraltar without the approval of the colony’s residents, Premier David Cameron said on Tuesday during a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The British leader spoke at a joint press conference with Rajoy after the two men met for the first time since the Spaniard took office in December. “We have spoken about Gibraltar and the foreign ministers will continue talking in the future. We have different positions, but we will keep talking,” Rajoy said. Cameron, however, was more categorical, stressing that Britain’s position in favor of self-determination for Gibraltarians “has not changed.” “It’s important to understand” that London will not enter into talks on Gibraltar without consulting the wishes of the Rock’s residents, the British prime minister said, before describing the current ties between Spain and Britain as excellent. Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party government signaled last month that it would seek to revive talks with London on Gibraltar. The last round of Gibraltar discussions ended in 2002 as Madrid and London were on the verge of agreeing to share sovereignty over the Rock. The Socialist administration that took office in Madrid in 2004 decided to put the sovereignty dispute to one side in favor of cooperative efforts to benefit people living on both sides of the Spain-Gibraltar border. The policy led to the creation of a trilateral forum, but that body was suspended in November 2010 after then-Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez rejected a demand from Britain and Gibraltar to discuss maritime boundaries. Gibraltar is a territory of 5.5 square kilometers (2.1 square miles) on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It has been held by Britain since 1704 and became a British Crown Colony in 1713 in accord with the Treaty of Utrecht. The Rock currently has some 30,000 residents, who overwhelmingly rejected a 2002 proposal for Britain to share sovereignty over the territory with Spain.

Read More

Thousands turnout for Morocco anniversary protests

 

A few thousand people gathered Sunday in Morocco's cities to mark the one year anniversary of the North African kingdom's local version of the Arab Spring uprisings. The modest turnout was in sharp contrast to the tens of thousands that once flocked to the February 20th movement's banner early last year. About 1,000 people turned out for a sit-in at Casablanca's main square. In the capital Rabat, at least 1,500 marched through the center of town chanting slogans and singing songs. The demonstrations last year prompted the king to amend the constitution to curtail is powers and hold early elections, which were won by an Islamist opposition party promising reforms. Since then, demonstrations petered out. Activists say many of their demands remain unmet, including fighting corruption, releasing prisoners of conscience and decreasing the absolute power of the king. While activists in Casablanca acknowledged that their numbers were down, they pointed out that a protest such as this, filled with young people, would have been unthinkable a year ago. "It is not bad to be able to do a sit-in for two days and discuss issues in the open air," said Larbi Menouzi, who has attended nearly every one of the weekly demonstrations held in Casablanca for the past year. The main square of Morocco's largest city, flanked by the central bank, city hall and main post office, was filled with people enjoying a sunny winter's day, along with the knot of protesters, a few dozen of whom spent the night on the square in tents. Banners above their tents demanded the new parliament be dissolved, those stealing public money be prosecuted and all prisoners of conscience be released. Activists say the sit-in will continue until their demands are met, a conscious echo of the sit-in at Cairo's Tahrir Square at the center of Egypt's uprising. "Before people were too scared to speak and now they do. The February 20 movement has been a catalyst and people are now mobilized everywhere," Souad Guennon said. Placards and photos around the square testified to the breadth of movements across the country, describing striking villagers at a distant silver mine, residents bulldozed out of informal housing and clashes with police in a mountain town. Omar Radi, an activist with movement, took heart in the turnout in Rabat, which was higher than it had been in months, though still far below the large demonstrations that characterized its early days. "This is the biggest demonstration in Rabat in a while, which gives us hope," he said activists chanted around him. "Like all movements, this has had its ups and downs, but the spirit of the February 20th is all over the country." The New York-based Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, condemned the trial of activists of the February 20th movement arrested for advocating a boycott of the Nov. 25 elections.

Read More

Gibraltar heats up Spanish PM UK visit

 

Britain and Spain can find themselves at each other’s throats over the strategic Strait of Gibraltar during Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s British visit. Rajoy is to meet British PM David Cameron in London on Tuesday and Spanish cabinet sources have revealed that he is going to call for a “constructive dialogue” on the subject of Gibraltar. Britain is refusing to hold talks on Gibraltar’s sovereignty using the same excuses it has used to avoid negotiations with Argentina on Las Malvinas (Falklands). The United Nations records show Britain has illegally occupied both territories, which are among the ten territories on the UN Special Committee on Decolonization list of areas waiting for liberation from British rule. Madrid has said Cameron’s comments earlier this month that London would consider talks on Gibraltar’s sovereignty only with the consent of the territory’s residents goes against the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht as well as the UN resolutions on the decolonization of the territory. Britain invaded and captured Gibraltar in 1704 and Spain ceded its sovereignty to Britain nine years later as part of the treaty that ended the War of Succession in Europe, yet the details of the treaty on Gibraltar are a point of contention for both sides. Spanish foreign minister Garcia-Margallo sent a letter to his British counterpart William Hague after Cameron’s remarks on Gibraltar’s sovereignty in a bid to clarify Madrid’s position on the subject. Margallo later also raised the matter with British Secretary of State for Europe, David Lidington, stressing the sovereignty talks should resume after a delay under socialist governments in Madrid. Spain and Britain have a history of fighting over Gibraltar including the fierce row in 2004 when the Madrid government banned all cruise ships that call at the Rock from entering Spanish ports. The move was termed the “cruise ship war” at the time by the government of Gibraltar, which is located in the southern part of Spain and at the mouth of the Mediterranean. Argentina and its Latin American allies also recently took a similar step against all ships flying the Falklands flags. The British governments, both in 2004 and now, have condemned the bans as illegal in total disregard of the UN’s position on the subject.

Read More

Betfred finally pays out £4m to Newmarket trainer Barney Curley coup

 

Betfred.com decided to void bets placed by five punters, four of whom were related to Mr Curley, which showed profits of more than £823,000. Its decision, which attracted criticism from rival bookmaker William Hill, followed an intervention by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority but was in contrast to Betfred's UK business, which paid out on accumulator wagers placed through its betting shops. Mr Curley, who has a reputation for outwitting bookies, pulled off an ambitious gamble on four horses in May 2010, which almost triggered a payout of £20m but still resulted in a £4m windfall. In a statement on Monday, the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner, who was investigating the affair, said the matter was now at a close. "Following conclusion of the investigation the operators have paid the bets as for them this was never a dispute about money," the statement read, adding that the operators had acted appropriately "at all times".

Read More

non-government sanctioned Private Members’ Bill to amend the Gambling Act 2005 and to bring offshore gambling operators within the UK’s fiscal and regulatory regime.

Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Matthew Hancock has used the UK Parliament’s ten-minute rule to introduce a non-government sanctioned Private Members’ Bill to amend the Gambling Act 2005 and to bring offshore gambling operators within the UK’s fiscal and regulatory regime.

Read More

Bookmakers should be forced to pay tax on bets placed in the UK

Bookmakers should be forced to pay tax on bets placed in the UK , a Tory MP has urged.

Matthew Hancock, a former aide to Chancellor George Osborne, warned that the move offshore by big bookmakers taking advantage of internet betting was depriving horseracing of vital funding and also hitting the Exchequer.

He called for all bets placed in the UK to be subject to tax and the horseracing levy on a “point of consumption” basis.

The call comes as Chief Minister Fabian Picardo warned of this threat to the gaming industry. It is also strongly opposed by gaming companied.

 

Mr Picardo last week signalled a major battle ahead for Gibraltar with London over its plans to introduce gaming transaction taxation in UK on online gaming provided from abroad including the Rock.

London is taking a protectionist stance and wants to take a cut of from profits of companies that fled the UK over high taxation there.

“There are issues on the horizon for Gibraltar. Those issues affect businesses in Gibraltar, and it is not always the usual common enemy that is responsible,” Mr Picardo said last Thursday following meetings in London on this issue.

Mr Hancock, whose West Suffolk seat includes the racing industry’s Newmarket home, said the move would also give gamblers greater consumer protection.

He told the Commons: “Racing has suffered a devastating fall in funding. The horseracing levy, the annual payment from betting to racing in return for the product on which so many bets are placed, has declined from over £100 million in 2009 to under £60 million last year.

“Prize money, the lifeblood of the sport, has fallen by half in two years. Even second place will no longer cover the cost of diesel for many of our smaller fixtures.

“The number of mares in foal is declining and more of our best stock is sent overseas into training, especially to France.

“Racecourses, trainers, jockeys and staff are struggling and livelihoods are under threat.

“But with attendances at courses at record levels, why this decline? Because since 2007, 18 of our 20 biggest bookmakers have moved offshore.

“According to bookmakers’ own estimates they avoid £300 million in tax and tens of millions in contribution to the levy.”

His solution was to “define the location of the bet, not where the bookie is but where the punter is”.

He added: “If the bookmaker wants to market to, and take bets from, British punters they must be licensed by the Gambling Commission. Tax and levy must be paid. A simple change with a big effect.”

In the longer-term, the levy could be replaced with a more sustainable system such as a “racing right” and the level of tax could be reduced to ensure bookmakers remained competitive, he said.

Mr Hancock’s Offshore Gambling (Licensing) Bill was given a first reading in the Commons without a vote, but stands little chance of making further progress due to a lack of parliamentary time.

The Government is already considering the changes demanded by Mr Hancock.

Tory Philip Davies (Shipley), a racehorse owner, said the Bill was a “blunt instrument” and the focus should be on cutting tax.

He said: “We need to focus on why some betting companies are based abroad: that reason is the level of taxation and the level of taxation alone.”

Read More

When bookies are more common than post offices

I've just won tenfold on the horses, but I can’t get out of Ladbrokes. It’s 10pm and the floor  is covered with crumpled slips recording the day’s losing bets. A group of men are blocking the door. 

These punters want to know if I’ll lend them some winnings. One says he’ll pay me back as soon as he’s won, but I just want to get home. They look desperate.

I was lucky that night. But there are eight bookies within ten minutes’ walk of my South London home – I can’t avoid them. I’m not against gambling but when betting shops are more common than post offices and corner shops, we have a problem.

Read More

12-partner Gibraltar firm Triay & Triay is the next biggest.

firms that disclosed their equity partnerships, nine are all-­equity. Mourant Ozannes is the largest of these, while 12-partner Gibraltar firm Triay & Triay is the next biggest. In contrast, the tightest equity partnership is found at the other Gibraltar practice in the survey, Isolas, where the equity is held by two out of seven partners (28.6 per cent).

Isolas and Harneys were two firms to reveal their equity numbers for the first time this year, in contrast with Channel Islands firm Carey Olsen. The latter said 28 out of 37 ­partners in 2010 were equity, but declined to reveal figures for 2011.

Read More

The crew of a Gibraltar-flag cargo ship Phantom abandoned the vessel

The crew of a Gibraltar-flag cargo ship Phantom abandoned the vessel after it began listing heavily in rough weather during a voyage in the Baltic Sea on Wednesday.

The six-man crew was safely airlifted by a rescue helicopter from Sweden, which also despatched salvage tugs to the scene.

The incident is believed to have happened after cargo on the vessel shifted because of the waves.

By Thursday a Swedish coastguard tug had managed to attach a line to the stricken vessel and began towing it at slow speed toward the port of Oskarshmn, in Sweden. It arrived in port yesterday and there was no pollution as a result.

The incident is being investigated by the Gibraltar Maritime Administration, which was closely involved throughout the salvage operation.

The small 2,329 gross tonne ship is operated by a German company and was carrying wood pulp at the time of the incident.

Read More

Parliamentary sessions in Gibraltar could be televised live before the summer

Parliamentary sessions in Gibraltar could be televised live before the summer, according to Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.

The Government plans to provide a live stream of proceedings on a dedicated Parliament website.

“That live stream will also be made available to GBC or to any other interested party,” he told Parliament in response to Opposition questions.

 

According to Mr Picardo the proceedings will be filmed using high definition cameras that record broadcast-quality images.

Broadcasters will be able to tap into the raw feed before it is streamed in lower definition on the internet.

“The government IT department has already started working on the specification of the cameras and systems required

in order to facilitate the webcasting of the work of this Parliament,” he said.

The Chief Minister added that he would present a motion in Parliament on televising proceedings prior to allowing the cameras to go live.

But he added that he was keen to progress this during the first half of the year.

“My intention is that this should happen as soon as possible, hopefully before the summer,” Mr Picardo said.

Read More

Gibtelecom will radically upgrade its broadband speeds this year

Gibtelecom will radically upgrade its broadband speeds this year, in a move that will be welcomed by customers who have long complained of Gibraltar’s slow internet connections.

The company said it will quadruple its most popular broadband speeds during 2012, a step that will benefit some 11,000 Gibtelecom customers.

 

In contrast to download speeds, the price of the connection will not increase.

The top broadband speed will almost triple from 8Mbps to 20Mbps, while the speeds of the current Standard (1Mbps), Standard Plus (2Mbps) and Enhanced (8Mbps) broadband packages will be increased to 4Mbps, 8Mbps and 20Mbps respectively by September 2012.

As a first step Gibtelecom’s Standard and Standard Plus speeds will double in March to 2 Mbps and 4 Mbps respectively, whilst its Enhanced package customers will get a £10 reduction in their monthly rental.

“The first phase of deployment will enable Gibtelecom to cater for the demand for higher internet speeds from an increasingly ‘broadband-hungry’ Gibraltar, who require faster speeds to play interactive games, download media and other data intensive content,” said Xavi Bado, Gibtelecom’s Technical Director.

Mr Bado said Gibtelecom aimed to provide the speeds it was promising, unlike many other operators in Europe.

He cited a recent report on UK broadband services by the telecommunications regulator Ofcom revealed that most operators delivered significantly lower speeds than advertised.

This prompted the UK Advertising Standards Authority to adopt a code which from April 2012 will require speed claims to be achievable by at least 10% of an Internet Service Providers’ [ISP] customers.

Unless that target is met, advertising will have to include a statement with explanations why this is not the case.

“Gibtelecom aims to deliver the speeds it promises in contrast to many operators around Europe,” Mr Bado said.

“In Gibraltar we are planning that Gibtelecom customers should again broadly receive the broadband speeds for which they have contracted.”

INFRASTRUCTURE

Gibtelecom is currently in the final stages of a highly complex and substantial upgrade of its technical infrastructure, together with laying out the beginnings of a Next Generation Network (NGN) that should serve Gibraltar for many years to come. This has involved deploying new electronics throughout Gibtelecom’s network, including the core and remote concentrators which are geographically distributed around the Rock.

Gibtelecom is concurrently re-engineering its IP (internet protocol) core network, which is expected to be completed by September 2012, which will facilitate increasing broadband speeds even further.

“These projects are technically complex and require substantial investment in equipment and development resources” said Jansen Reyes, Gibtelecom’s NGN Manager, who is overseeing the deployment of the programme.

Mr Reyes, an experienced graduate engineer with top worldwide recognised internet qualifications, said the new platform had the capacity to ultimately deliver “VDSL2 speeds that will eventually transform the local offerings and pave the way for the introduction of multi-media services over telephone wires.”

Adrian Ochello, Gibtelecom’s Marketing and Business Development Manager, said Gibtelecom strived to introduce new technologies as quickly as possible.

“However, given the small size of Gibraltar, Gibtelecom does not benefit from the economies of scale or volumes enjoyed by telecoms operators in larger States,” he said.

“This results in the unit costs of new infrastructure and equipment being much more expensive as it is shared by a much smaller customer base, which explains why other countries are able to offer lower prices for their services.”

“Despite this Gibtelecom’s telephone fixed line rentals are still cheaper than leading operators in the UK and Spain.”

Read More

Investors in listed UK gambling groups were warned by at least one analyst this week that the industry is facing a tough year due to plans by the government to introduce a damning tax hike.

Investors in listed UK gambling groups were warned by at least one analyst this week that the industry is facing a tough year due to plans by the government to introduce a damning tax hike.

Oriel, the analyst group, said that while "there are always risks for betting and gaming stocks ahead of the budget," the risks are "greater this year."

In March, Chancellor George Osborne will unveil his budget, and it is expected that it will include higher taxes on internet gambling companies that operate offshore, including William Hill, Betfair and Ladbrokes.

As a result, analysts have downgraded share ratings of some online gambling companies and are urging caution in what it calls UK gambling investment risks.

In 2011, the UK government announced that it would be re-examining the way it taxed companies which operated offshore yet still offered their services to UK gamblers.

Several companies operate from tax havens such as Gibraltar so as to avoid the already high 15% tax rate imposed on the gaming industry by the UK government.

The government, however, wants to force these companies to pay taxes as well, and has said that it would address the issue in the March budget.  Analysts say that the re-examination "could result in gross profits tax introduced for offshore operators in late 2013 or 2014."

Read More

Federal prosecutors are moving to seize $22 million in betting proceeds and a luxury helicopter they claim were ill-gotten perks of an offshore gambling empire

Federal prosecutors are moving to seize $22 million in betting proceeds and a luxury helicopter they claim were ill-gotten perks of an offshore gambling empire run by the brothers-in-law of U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney.

The eye-popping bankroll of profits from American bettors and the 1980 Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm chopper that was registered to Tierney kin Daniel Eremian top the properties that prosecutors want U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to order forfeited by Eremian and Todd Lyons, a stateside debt collector for Antigua-based Sports Off Shore.

Daniel Eremian, 62, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Lyons, 38, of Beverly, were convicted last year of racketeering, conspiracy and operating an illegal gambling business.

Read More

major battle ahead for Gibraltar with London over its plans to introduce gaming transaction taxation in UK on online gaming provided from abroad including the Rock.

Matthew Hancock, a former aide to Chancellor George Osborne, warned that the move offshore by big bookmakers taking advantage of internet betting was depriving horseracing of vital funding and also hitting the Exchequer.

He called for all bets placed in the UK to be subject to tax and the horseracing levy on a “point of consumption” basis.

The call comes as Chief Minister Fabian Picardo warned of this threat to the gaming industry. It is also strongly opposed by gaming companied.

 

Mr Picardo last week signalled a major battle ahead for Gibraltar with London over its plans to introduce gaming transaction taxation in UK on online gaming provided from abroad including the Rock.

London is taking a protectionist stance and wants to take a cut of from profits of companies that fled the UK over high taxation there.

“There are issues on the horizon for Gibraltar. Those issues affect businesses in Gibraltar, and it is not always the usual common enemy that is responsible,” Mr Picardo said last Thursday following meetings in London on this issue.

Mr Hancock, whose West Suffolk seat includes the racing industry’s Newmarket home, said the move would also give gamblers greater consumer protection.

He told the Commons: “Racing has suffered a devastating fall in funding. The horseracing levy, the annual payment from betting to racing in return for the product on which so many bets are placed, has declined from over £100 million in 2009 to under £60 million last year.

“Prize money, the lifeblood of the sport, has fallen by half in two years. Even second place will no longer cover the cost of diesel for many of our smaller fixtures.

“The number of mares in foal is declining and more of our best stock is sent overseas into training, especially to France.

“Racecourses, trainers, jockeys and staff are struggling and livelihoods are under threat.

“But with attendances at courses at record levels, why this decline? Because since 2007, 18 of our 20 biggest bookmakers have moved offshore.

“According to bookmakers’ own estimates they avoid £300 million in tax and tens of millions in contribution to the levy.”

His solution was to “define the location of the bet, not where the bookie is but where the punter is”.

He added: “If the bookmaker wants to market to, and take bets from, British punters they must be licensed by the Gambling Commission. Tax and levy must be paid. A simple change with a big effect.”

In the longer-term, the levy could be replaced with a more sustainable system such as a “racing right” and the level of tax could be reduced to ensure bookmakers remained competitive, he said.

Mr Hancock’s Offshore Gambling (Licensing) Bill was given a first reading in the Commons without a vote, but stands little chance of making further progress due to a lack of parliamentary time.

The Government is already considering the changes demanded by Mr Hancock.

Tory Philip Davies (Shipley), a racehorse owner, said the Bill was a “blunt instrument” and the focus should be on cutting tax.

He said: “We need to focus on why some betting companies are based abroad: that reason is the level of taxation and the level of taxation alone.”

Read More

CUSTOMER of a private bank in Gibraltar is fighting for the return of 40,000 euros that was wrongly sent to a third party on the strength of one rogue fax.

Diane Taylor appealed to the Olive Press after Jyske Bank transferred the money to a random bank account in Thailand.

The former Formula 1 marketing executive was in Morocco when the request for the money arrived in her name.

Incredibly, she insists the bank failed to check the payment with her and wired it to the Far East as requested.

Even worse, when the discrepancy was realised, she claims the bank failed to return the money immediately.

She is still fighting to get it all back two months later.

“They are an absolute disgrace and they ought to be exposed,” Taylor told the Olive Press.

“While I have managed to get most it back, they have not yet paid everything back.”

Now, the mother of one in her 40s revealed that she had been forced to bring in lawyers to deal with the matter.

She is particularly angry that the bank refused to give the money back despite the fact that she was 10,000 kilometers away from the fax’s source at the time.

Indeed, it was not until the Olive Press intervened just before Christmas that she started to make headway.

“It is incredible this only happened with the heavy threat of the press,” she said.

But Diane is still fighting to get back the rest of her money and is considering suing the Danish bank that has long had connections in Gibraltar.

A Jyske representative said: “Due to confidentiality reasons Jyske Bank (Gibraltar) is not in a position to comment on any concrete cases, nor can we confirm or deny whether we hold a relationship with Mrs Diane Taylor.”

Jyske has been in Gibraltar since 1987, when it acquired Banco Galliano, the oldest bank in the colony with a 120-year history.

Read More

DECADES of financial secrecy may soon be over after Gibraltar began negotiations with Spain to increase its fiscal transparency.

DECADES of financial secrecy may soon be over after Gibraltar began negotiations with Spain to increase its fiscal transparency.
Tax evaders could be forced to look elsewhere after the countries agreed in principle to an unprecedented exchange of monetary information.

It came after the world’s most powerful countries – the G-20 – threatened offshore tax havens with sanctions if they refused to share financial information.

“The proposals have been agreed in principle and, as far as Gibraltar is concerned, we could sign a deal tomorrow,” said Gibraltar Chief Minister Peter Caruana.

“We don’t want to be seen as a threat to Spain’s treasury.”

Gibraltar’s status as a tax haven has earned it a reputation for as a popular haunt for millionaires wanting to hide illicit funds.

“The proposals have been agreed in principle and, as far as Gibraltar is concerned, we could sign a deal tomorrow.”

But in order to adhere to the G-20’s requirements Gibraltar must pass on six criteria, which include economic cooperation, political structure and even environment.

“We are trying to fulfil all the conditions and more because, being Spain’s direct neighbour, we understand that they would feel the most threatened,” added Caruana.

Spain has already agreed to share information with eight countries, including Luxembourg and Andorra.

So far 18 countries with evasive reputations are complying with the G-20’s demands and Gibraltar is keen to follow suit.

“There is no alternative, the world is changing and Gibraltar must adapt,” explained former minister and lawyer Peter Montegriffo.

“Caribbean islands may take a while longer to comply with the legislation but this is not possible in Europe.

“It is impossible to operate in this day and age without transparency.”

However, before any deal is struck, Spain is demanding the involvement of the British government.

Officials don’t view Gibraltar as influential enough to negotiate a deal without the aid of the UK.

“We will endeavour to improve the cooperation on fiscal matters,” said a Spanish Foreign Office spokesperson.

Yet Gibraltar is refusing to call on the involvement of Britain, citing that none of the 18 international agreements already made have required London’s stamp.

Read More

PLANS to impose a gaming tax on offshore gambling companies operating in the UK could affect thousands of jobs in Gibraltar.

Under proposals due to be considered by the UK parliament, firms would be required to pay a transaction tax on online gaming.

Gibraltar has long been an attractive haven for gaming companies because taxation on profits can be up to 15 per cent lower than in the UK.

But under the terms of the Remote Gaming Bill the tax contribution of domestic operators would be slashed, with offshore companies forced to make up the shortfall.

Chief Minister Fabian Picardo recently met with the UK Minister for Tourism & Heritage, John Penrose, to challenge the introduction of the tax.

“There are issues on the horizon for Gibraltar,” Picardo said.

“Those issues affect businesses in Gibraltar, and it is not always the usual common enemy that is responsible.”

Under current legislation, operators based in Britain are required to be licensed by the Gambling Commission, while operators licensed in European Economic Area (EEA) member states, including Gibraltar, are permitted to advertise in the UK under the terms of their license.

Read More

newly-elected Chief Minister of Gibraltar hopes that he will find a peaceful way of protecting the Rock – despite an escalation in the war of words with Madrid.

Fabian Picardo's office is surrounded by guns. In the courtyard sits a huge black cannon, while the entrance is protected by two more gold plated monsters, glinting in the sun.

But the newly-elected Chief Minister of Gibraltar hopes that he will find a peaceful way of protecting the Rock – despite an escalation in the war of words with Madrid.

"We are always hopeful that Spain will follow us into the 21st Century and drop its claim on our land," said Mr Picardo, in his first interview with a British newspaper since winning the December election.

"The Spanish government are playing to their constituency of support and concentrating more on the theory of their claim, rather than the realities on the ground. And that is a tragedy for people of both sides of the frontier."

If Mr Picardo, 39, was expecting a gentle introduction to the 300-year-old tussle over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, then he has had a brusque awakening. Just as the newly re-elected Cristina Kirchner in Argentina has made a diplomatic push against British "colonisation" of the Falkland Islands a key policy of her government, Spain's ruling Partido Popular (PP) – itself freshly in power, following the November general elections – has been pushing sovereignty over Gibraltar up the agenda.

Read More

Gibraltar has signed a tax information exchange agreement with SA

Gibraltar has signed a tax information exchange agreement with SA, the Gibraltar government said on Wednesday. This was confirmed by the SA Revenue Service (SARS).

BUSINESS AS USUAL: Pravin Gordhan delivers the medium-term budget policy statement this week Picture: SHELLEY CHRISTIANS

"SA looks forward to future cooperation and assistance between our jurisdictions in this global endeavour, which is already reflecting major progress towards more transparency in tax matters." 

SARS said the TIEA with Gibraltar was based on the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) model agreement, which was widely used internationally. 

"Now that the TIEA has been signed it will be presented to Parliament for ratification in SA. 

"It will enter into force once the necessary ratification and formal steps have been completed in both jurisdictions," SARS added. 

Gordhan said SA welcomed the signing of the Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Gibraltar "as these agreements provide jurisdictions with the legal basis for effective exchange of information, a vital function in the fight against tax evasion and unacceptable tax avoidance.

"SA looks forward to future cooperation and assistance between our jurisdictions in this global endeavour, which is already reflecting major progress towards more transparency in tax matters."

SARS said the TIEA with Gibraltar was based on the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) model agreement, which was widely used internationally.

"Now that the TIEA has been signed it will be presented to Parliament for ratification in SA.

"It will enter into force once the necessary ratification and formal steps have been completed in both jurisdictions," SARS added. 

Read More

FISH and chip chain said today it would save the original Harry Ramsden’s restaurant in West Yorkshire with a £500,000 investment.

Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s

Harry Ramsden's at Guiseley

 

A FISH and chip chain said today it would save the original Harry Ramsden’s restaurant in West Yorkshire with a £500,000 investment.

 

Harry Ramsden’s announced last year that it was to close its original Guiseley branch - the first restaurant it opened in the UK - after 83 years in business.

Today, the Wetherby Whaler fish and chip group revealed it would take over the premises and return the restaurant to its “glory days”.

In November, Harry Ramsden’s said its flagship restaurant, which opened in Guiseley, Leeds, in 1928, was losing money and needed a considerable investment before it could become profitable again.

The branch, which led to the chain of 35 restaurants across the UK, was originally run out of a wooden “shed” before moving into its famous art nouveau-style building, complete with chandeliers, in 1931.

Now, the Wetherby Whaler group, which has four restaurants and takeaways in Yorkshire, said it would invest £500,000 on refurbishing the restaurant to become its flagship branch.

A spokeswoman for the group said the famous chandeliers would be updated with new fittings and it was hoped that the original “shed” could be preserved.

Phillip Murphy, who launched the Wetherby Whaler with his wife Janine in 1989, said: “The famous fish and chip restaurant in Guiseley is the spiritual home of fish and chips in England. It would be a national scandal if it were to close at this time of economic uncertainty.

“Our investment has saved a Yorkshire landmark and will ensure the tradition of fine fish and chips continues at this important location.

“The new Wetherby Whaler in Guiseley will be our flagship restaurant. We expect it to recapture the atmosphere and flavours of Harry Ramsden’s best years.

“We are confident that with the right investment, careful attention to detail, great-tasting fish and chips and excellent value for money, we will make a lasting success of this new venture and return the restaurant to its glory days.

“Our family-owned business is built on solid foundations and this has given us the confidence to invest. It fits perfectly with our business strategy of controlled growth and accentuates our belief that Yorkshire is a great place to do business.”

Read More

Costa del Sol cold weather warning

 

THE big freeze which has gripped Europe is due to reach the Costa del Sol tonight (Thursday). Temperatures in Marbella will plummet overnight tonight (Thursday) to 0C with highs on tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday of 7C and 9C. Similar temperatures will be seen on the rest of the coast, as well as Mijas and Coin. Residents further inland in towns including Ronda should prepare for bitter cold, the Spanish Met office AEMET predicts temperatures will plunge to -2C over the weekend. Charity ‘Age UK’ has warned people to wrap up warm as the cold can kill, especially the elderly. There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of elderly Expats living inland in Malaga Province which are vulnerable. Michelle Mitchell, charity director general at Age UK said: "Low temperatures raise blood pressure which puts people at a greater risk of heart attacks and strokes as well as increasing the likelihood and severity of flu and other respiratory problems.” People are advised to check local weather forecasts on the radio or via the internet, these can be seen in English on Spain’s met office website www.aemet.es (click on the word ‘welcome’ on the top right). An icy cold weather front originating in Siberia (Russia) has caused thermometers to drop as low as -33C in some parts of Europe where dozens have been killed, mainly Ukraine and Poland. Yesterday (Wednesday) there were severe weather warnings in parts of Britain. Temperatures in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia fell to -20C, the lowest recorded in 50 years.

Read More

JC Flowers boss banned and fined

 

Ravi Sinha, the former boss of private-equity giant JC Flowers in the UK, has been fined £2.86m and banned from working in any kind of financial services business for life. Mr Sinha, who headed the firm's attempts to buy Northern Rock before it was nationalised, was sacked and reported to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in 2009 by JC Flowers shortly after Sir Callum McCarthy, former chairman of the regulator, became its UK chairman. The FSA said Mr Sinha had fraudulently charged fictitious invoices to a company in which JC Flowers funds had invested, totalling £1.37m. Between May and July in 2008 he borrowed almost €9m (£7.5m) to fund personal investments. Some of these were made in companies where Flowers funds were also invested. When his behaviour came to light Flowers suspended him in November 2009 and then sacked him. Mr Sinha went bankrupt which was only in August last year.

Read More

Ladbrokes Eyes Legal US Online Gambling

 

Ladbrokes, the UK-based online sportsbook and casino giant, has made a big purchase in Nevada, making it the latest offshore gambling operator to cement a position for itself in the event sports betting is eventually legalized in the United States. Eye to the future Ladbrokes paid $3 million to acquire 65 percent of Stadium Technology Group, a Las Vegas-based supplier of software and betting applications to bookmakers. STG currently powers software for several locations in Las Vegas, including the entire CantorGaming group, Golden Nugget and Treasure Island. The size of the American market and the potential for positive regulatory change in the near future made this acquisition a sensible one, Ladbrokes CEO Richard Glynn said. He added that Stadium Technology could expand its business by becoming one of the main software suppliers to existing land-based casinos in Nevada and Delaware. Brits take over Vegas William Hill, the main British rival to Ladbrokes, last year spent well in excess of $50 million on purchases of various Las Vegas sports betting outfits, including American Wagering. The acquisitions are known to be part of a plan to cement a foothold in the US before legalization and the consequent growth in the market. New Jersey is at the forefront of the race to legalize sports betting, and a congressman representing the state has already introduced federal legislation to open sports betting there, and ultimately set the precedent for other states to do so as well. The US Justice Department ruled late last year that while cross-state betting on sporting contests is illegal, other forms of internet gambling such as poker and casino games are not.

Read More

Tax troubles take their toll on bookmakers

 

“There are always risks for betting and gaming stocks ahead of the budget,” argued analysts at Oriel, but they considered the risks to be “greater this year”. Previous 1 of 2 Companies Next FTSE 100 One of the issues concerning Oriel was the possibility of higher taxes on online companies operating offshore. Many gaming companies operate from offshore tax havens such as Gibraltar, rather than the UK, where the tax rate is 15pc. But last year, the Government said it would look at changing the way it taxes companies that offer online gambling to British consumers from abroad, raising the prospect of higher tax bills for online operators. Oriel analysts thought the issue could be revisited at the Budget and a consultation launched, which “could result in gross profits tax introduced for offshore operators in late 2013 or 2014”

Read More

Gibraltar 'not a tax haven by any measure'

 

Gibraltar's chief minister Fabian Picardo met with Mr Miliband in London this week, accompanied by the minister for financial services, Gilbert Licudi. “Following Mr Miliband’s recent remarks about tax havens, the chief minister and Mr Licudi briefed Mr Miliband on the latest developments in Gibraltar and in particular on the work of the finance centre as a fully compliant EU financial services hub that operates entirely in keeping with EU directives and regulations, fully compliant with OECD rules also and therefore not by any measure a 'tax haven'," a government spokesperson said. Officials in the crown dependency of Guernsey have also dismissed Miliband's threat to wage war on UK tax havens, as "political posturing". Charles Parkinson, Guernsey's treasury and resources minister, said the comments were of no concern. Mr Miliband has said the UK should encourage offshore territories to reform or face being blacklisted. But officials on the Rock point out many reforms have already taken place. In January last year, a new Income Tax Act came into effect in Gibraltar, which Gibraltar says marked the territory’s 14-year transition from "tax haven" to an integrated, mainstream European financial services centre

Read More

The great and the good of the global online gaming industry turned out in London this week to celebrate

 

The great and the good of the global online gaming industry turned out in London this week to celebrate the achievements of the ‘Gaming Intelligence Hot 50’, the annual list of the 50 most talented, innovative and inspiring individuals working in online gambling. The Hot 50, as chosen by a panel of experts, includes entrepreneurs and CEOs, regulators, technology wizards, lawyers and marketers from across the globe, reflecting the diverse range of talent that is driving an incredible growth curve. “We often write about the success of companies and their top executives, but the aim of the annual Hot 50 list is to recognise the achievements of all those who are shaping the future of this vibrant industry” said Bobby Mamudi, Managing Editor of Gaming Intelligence. Growth in the online gambling industry is bucking the global economic trend with the GIQ20 quarterly ranking of the fastest growing listed companies in online gaming showing an average growth rate of 58.9 per cent during the third quarter of 2011. The GIQ Hot 50 includes prominent industry leaders such as Denise Coates of Bet365 and bwin.party CEO Jin Ryan, influential regulators such as the UK Gambling Commission’s Jenny Williams, as well as relatively unknown talents such as Daniel Lindberg, the CEO of online casino supplier QuickSpin, which is yet to launch a product. A massive 24 per cent of those in the Hot 50 represent online gaming companies that are licensed in Gibraltar. Andrew Bulloss, a Hot 50 judge and the head of betting and gaming at international headhunters Odgers Berndtson, commented: “The list of industry heroes, some well-known, some unsung, recognises how the industry has changed and the diversity of talent needed for success. The industry is becoming much deeper, broader and international as it moves into the mainstream.” According to Global Betting and Gaming Consulting (GBGC), the world-wide gross gaming yield in 2011 is estimated at US$34.4bn. The UK generates nearly 14 per cent of this amount with US$2.5bn and UK citizens accounted for 40 per cent of the Hot 50. The next most represented nationalities are Swedes, Israelis and Canadians, representing the innovation centres that have shaped the industry thus far.

Read More

Gibraltar: Spain Should Worry About Joblessness, Not the Rock

 

Gibraltar’s top elected official said Tuesday that Madrid should focus on the 5 million Spaniards without work instead of pursuing a long-standing quarrel with London about sovereignty over the Rock, a British Crown Colony for three centuries. Treat Gibraltar with “friendship and as a neighboring people” and “forget about historic declarations,” Fabian Picardo urged Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo. “With 5 million and some jobless, I have the impression that Spaniards have other priorities more important than historic demands about my people,” Gibraltar’s first minister said in an interview with ABC Punto Radio. The solution to the dispute, according to Picardo, lies in Spain’s accepting the reality of Gibraltar and the right of its inhabitants to decide their future. Picardo, who took office in December, spoke out after Garcia-Margallo announced last week that Spain’s new conservative Popular Party government would seek to revive talks with London on sovereignty over Gibraltar. The prior Socialist administration, led by Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, decided in 2004 to put the sovereignty dispute to one side in favor of cooperative efforts to benefit people living on both sides of the Spain-Gibraltar border. Zapatero’s policy led to the creation of a trilateral forum, but that body was suspended in November 2010 after Garcia-Margallo’s predecessor, Trinidad Jimenez, rejected a demand from Britain and Gibraltar to discuss maritime boundaries. Spain is not interested in renewing the trilateral form without some progress on the sovereignty question, Garcia-Margallo said. Inviting Garcia-Margallo to visit Gibraltar and understand the reality of the “the small nation,” Picardo said British Prime Minister David Cameron supports the Gibraltarians’ right to self-determination. Picardo also counseled Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy against raising the sovereignty dispute when he visits Britain next month. “I imagine that Rajoy will be listened to with respect, but the response will be the referendum of the Gibraltarian people, and there will be no debate, nor negotiation,” Picardo said. “But if he (Rajoy) prefers to talk about those things and not talk about cooperation and friendship, each one answers to his own electorate,” the Gibraltar first minister said. “Since Francoism,” according to Picardo, a 39-year-old lawyer whose grandfather was on the Republican side in Spain’s 1936-1939 civil war, Spanish politicians have tried to destroy the “great friendship” that unites the peoples of Gibraltar and Spain. Gibraltar is a territory of 5.5 square kilometers (2.1 square miles) on the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It has been held by Britain since 1704 and became a British Crown Colony in 1713. The Rock currently has some 30,000 residents, who overwhelmingly rejected a 2002 proposal for Britain to share sovereignty over the territory with Spain. Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, but Madrid continues to press its claim to sovereignty over the Rock, Europe’s last colony.

Read More

Spanish demand talks on Gibraltar

 

DAVID CAMERON was facing fresh demands from Spain last night to start talks over Gibraltar’s sovereignty. Mariano Rajoy, the country’s new centre-right PM, wants discussions over the British colony without Gibraltar’s authorities being involved. It marks a hardening of Madrid’s position in its claim for the return of the Rock. Under the previous socialist Spanish government, the authorities in Gibraltar were included in three-way talks. But Madrid was unimpressed when Mr Cameron told the Council of Europe last week the colony’s future depended on the wishes of its 30,000 inhabitants. Spain’s foreign affairs minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo has told William Hague “the joke is over”– in a reference to Gibraltar.

Read More