S.L. 583.3 Art. 9Fees for start-up undertakings.

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations, start-up undertakings shall not incur the compliance contribution payable by reference to the gaming revenue generated from qualifying activities provided by the holder of a licence falling under paragraph 1(a) of the First Schedule to the Gaming Authorisations Regulations during the first twelve (12) months of operations, which twelve (12) month period shall be reckoned from the date on which the licence is issued by the Authority and, for the purpose of all and any computations required in terms of regulation 3 and the First Schedule, the gaming revenue generated from qualifying activities during the said twelve (12) month period shall be deemed to be nil:

Provided that the above shall be without prejudice to any obligation to report the said gaming revenue in any return or submission required to be made in terms of regulation 7.

(2) For the purposes of sub-regulation (1), a ‘start-up undertaking’ shall mean a person who, at the date of the licence application, fulfils all of the following criteria:

(a) that person has been established or operational in the same or a related sector for less than five (5) years:

Provided that, unless the business is operated in a different form, ‘established’ shall refer to the date of registration of a limited liability company, the date of the agreement establishing a partnership, the date of registration as a self-employed person, or as may otherwise be determined by the Authority.

(b) in the case of a body corporate, that person has not yet distributed profits;

(c) in the case of a body corporate, that person has not been formed through a merger or, if formed through a merger, all body corporates that formed part of the merger satisfy, in aggregate, all the criteria envisaged herein;

(d) that person has not acquired the business as a going concern or, if so, the acquirer and the acquired both satisfied all criteria envisaged herein;

(e) that person has generated actual revenue from the same, or a related, sector during the previous thirty-six months amounting to less than ten million euro (€10,000,000):

Provided that where the financial period cannot be determined or is not applicable, the previous thirty-six (36) calendar months shall be taken into consideration;

(f) that person is not part of, or controlled by, a corporate group whose actual revenue in the same, or a related sector within the previous thirty-six months exceeds ten million euro (€10,000,000):

Provided that where the financial period cannot be determined or is not applicable, the previous thirty-six (36) calendar months shall be taken into consideration; and

(g) that person is not subject to the requirement of a Government concession to offer the gaming service in accordance with the proviso to regulation 4 of the Gaming Authorisations Regulations:

Provided that in the case of a body corporate, if the person referred to in this sub-regulation has taken over the business from any person having a qualifying interest in the former, the provisions of this sub-regulation shall extend accordingly to the person having a qualifying interest in the applicant:

Provided further that actual revenue referred to in paragraphs (e) and (f) shall be determined on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles and practice as defined in article 2(4) of the Companies Act.

(3) A person shall be deemed to be a start-up undertaking only upon the Authority’s confirmation, and the Authority shall be vested with discretion to determine whether a person is a start-up undertaking in terms of this regulation:

Provided that the onus to prove that a person is indeed a start-up undertaking shall be vested in the same applicant.

Part VIII Repeal and Saving