Gibraltar Chronicle: PARTYGAMING CHIEF RALLIES LOCAL SUPPORT

[clevfan]

PARTYGAMING CHIEF RALLIES LOCAL SUPPORT

Mitch Garber, Chief Executive of PartyGaming has said that analysts have predicted a Clean EBITDA $140 million plus profit this year despite the set back on internet gaming from the US clampdown last year.


With the company’s founder Ruth Parasol also joining a 200 strong audience of Gibraltar’s Federation of Small Businesses, Mr Garber declared that PartyGaming would soon be putting Gibraltar on the map with deals in Asia and places like Russia and China.
But he also said the company will lobby EU countries that are trying to block PartyGaming’s business in Europe.
The PartyGaming CEO, speaking at the Gala Casino on Thursday night, called on the continued support of the Gibraltar Government and its Chief Minister Peter Caruana to fight the blocking of the gaming industry in France and other EU countries. He revealed that Caruana had been writing to heads of states and governments calling on them, to recognise the Rock’s jurisdiction.
He also told local traders that whilst he is CEO PartyGaming will be in Gibraltar.
“We believe we have an EU licence. We believe the EU licence should allow us to offer our services freely across the EU,” he said accusing some countries of ignoring the laws on monopolies and of ignoring EU Court of Justice decisions allowing the free flow of services across the EU.
“We had a terrible negative, I would call it a blip in our business, it was a huge blip and we have a huge business.”
“We suffered a US regulatory setback and lost 76% of our business in one day,” said Mr Garber. He said that PartyGaming now has more employees in Gibraltar than before the US move, making it the only internet gaming company in Gibraltar that is still hiring people.
Mr Garber said Gibraltar should fight those individual countries as if it were as big an EU member as Italy, France or the UK. He said that the Rock’s membership of the EU comes with rights which are needed to allow gaming companies to flourish and grow.
On the differences with the US over gaming Mr Garber declared, “it was never our belief that our business was being offered in the United States and that our business was being conducted in Gibraltar.” He said that whilst PartyGaming disagreed with the US law enforcement authorities it respected their position, but he felt Gibraltar should take offence at the claims that the industry is unregulated.
“It may not be regulated by an American regulator, but it is regulated by an EU member with a very sophisticated government, with a regulatory body, with compliance officers and people who come to visit our offices and audit our software and make sure we do all of the things we need to do to comply.”
“If this were based in a Caribbean island that had a so-so licensing body I would not have come.”
Mr Garber told the local community that the PartyGaming experience is that businesses always face challenges and that they must learn to grow and diversify.
Despite the “set back” just four months into his appointment nine months ago, Mr Garber said he felt great about being in Gibraltar. “I feel great about our future. The world is a very big place. In the near future we will accomplish some very interesting deals which will put Gibraltar on the map in Russian and China and places like that.”
• Sweden defied huge odds against them to pull off a spectacular triumph at the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup in Cardiff last week. The winning team, captained by Bo Sehlstedt, included 2006 WSOP bracelet winners Anders Henriksson and Mats Rahm, as well as Johan Storakers, William Thorsson and online qualifier Hans Isoz. They scooped
100,000 in this unique televised tournament that saw players pursuing personal and team glory, along with the honour of representing their home nation.

[The Actuary]

Read the some comments fr the centrebet guy fr Nov insuring his shareholders the new congress will reverse the act.



IMVHO online gambling is going to be the first fissure in what is going to turn out to be the end of the currency known as the Euro. It was hard to believe they could ever get such a diverse band of countries, peoples, governments to combine for one currency to begin with-now starting to see some protectionism not only with the gambling but elsewhere and that is going to be the downfall of this banding.