ISLE OF MAN FOCUS
Solid reputation
Andrew Cronin of OCRA talks to eGaming Review about why his ?rm entered the egaming industry and the advantages the IoM has over other jurisdictions
The Isle of Man’s commitment to transparency makes it a leading jurisdiction in the gaming industry. Andrew Cronin of OCRA explains the bene?ts of setting up there and the services his ?rm can provide. eGaming Review (eGR): What services does OCRA offer its clients and how does its strategy differ from its competitors? Andrew Cronin (AC): OCRA was formed in 1975 to broadly establish, manage and administer companies, trusts and foundations. Since then, we have maintained our core business and expanded our services to now include successful aerospace and marine divisions, and of course more recently the egaming division, making us a global leader in the corporate services industry. With our reputation for longevity and professionalism, we offer our clients efficient services including accountancy, administration support, international banking, taxation, VAT and licence application services. Our strategy is to provide solution-driven products which enable our clients to manage their businesses with maximum ease and minimum disruption. What sets us apart from our competitors is the ability to achi eve this through our global network of more than 20 offices. Our team consists of quali?ed personnel with international experience and knowledge, whose aim is to retain our professional reputation and integrity, while remaining independent at all times. eGR: Why did OCRA decide to enter the online gaming market? AC: Over the years our clients have retained OCRA as their chosen provider of corporate services, and we have been approached by many of them with requests for assistance in establishing a company that can deal with speci?c egaming requirements. After looking in-house, it became apparent that we had the expertise, knowledge and awareness of the industry to offer advice in relation
Andrew Cronin is the business development manager at OCRA in the Isle of Man. He has been involved in driving the success of OCRA’s new business strategy and advises international entrepreneurs, expatriates, intermediaries and other professional bodies on all aspects of corporate, trust and egaming services.
OCRA
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to the very speci?c requirements of the egaming industry. Based on our 35 years of experience, we have now formed a dedicated egaming division which will deliver a high-level of service.
eGR: Why is OCRA speci?cally targeting the region? What opportunities do you see there and how do they compare to other domiciles? AC: The Isle of Man Government (Tynwald) proactively encourages the development and regulation of egaming, promoting the three core principles: keep gambling crime free, protect the young and vulnerable and ensure that the facilities offered by licensees are fair and that players receive their true winnings. Also, it is a pioneering jurisdiction when it comes to infrastructure and technology. Remaining online is imperative to any egaming business and the island’s selection of sophisticated data and disaster recovery centres provide businesses with the ability to do just that. The island’s continuity of power supply and advanced DDoS protection in comparison to other jurisdictions again shows that it is able to embrace changes in technology and deliver to its clients. Government departments such as the GSC and Customs and Excise are on-hand to provide guidance and assistance when necessary. With personal points of contact, you are able to con?dently and comfortably enter into correspondence with professional advisors. eGR: With regulatory changes often high on businesses’ agendas, how does OCRA help companies’ compliance strategies and what changes do you expect to see? AC: It is essential to remain up-to-date with changes that are brought to light by this dynamic environment. This has allowed OCRA to maintain the knowledge and expertise required to advise our clients from a regulatory and compliance point of view. Our global ISO9001 accreditation places our compliance standards among the best in the industry, and this knowledge and expertise is passed on to our clients to improve their operations and heighten awareness in relation to ongoing changes and social responsibility. We expect to see changes in the UK “White List” further to the Draft Gambling (Licensing & Advertising) Bill 2012, as well as developments throughout the EU in relation to identifying and implementing harmonisation across member states. In addition, we expect to see progress in minimum standards, administrative cooperation and best practice. eGR: What are the Isle of Man’s advantages when it comes to the jurisdiction’s regulatory and tax framework? AC: Tax is on the agenda of every international business and the Isle of Man is a ?scally transparent jurisdiction that proactively encourages cooperation with other territories. The island’s commitment to player protection provides for social and player responsibility and it is therefore referred to, and is well known, as a highly regulated and compliant egaming jurisdiction.
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