Online gambling just around the corner

CYPRUS is set to introduce online gambling and betting within the next couple of months, according to a group working closely with legislators.

Poppleston Allen – a firm that deals exclusively with licensing law and procedures, planning and regulatory crime on a national and international scale – has been working closely with the Cyprus government and Cyprus based KGMC advocates in an effort to review and liberalise online gambling in Cyprus and to introduce the popular iGaming leisure to the island.

According to reports from online gambling website GambingGates.com, the review is also contemplating the launch of a new iGaming legislative framework that will act as a potential jurisdiction and viable destination for other European casinos and sports betting agents.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Kypros Ioannides of KGMC advocates, said: “The Cyprus government has assigned us to review the betting industry on the issues of taxation betting, licensing, regulation and also the protection of individuals. Other points in the review include filtering out money laundering and illegal elements in the industry.”

Asked what he believed the impact of online betting would be on Cyprus Ioannides said: “I believe online betting in Cyprus will have a bigger impact in the long term. We will also see the Cyprus betting companies become more competitive.”

In an online report, Poppleston Allen partner, Paddy Whurwrote that “with these two pieces of legislation in place, Cyprus will benefit early from the lifting of government monopolies and other liberalising moves within gambling across the EU.

“They will also be able to take advantage of the expected developments in online gaming technology and its growth as a leisure pursuit.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.