As Minister responsible for gaming, I am pleased that the professional and diligent work of Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister for Tourism, Sir Baltron Bethel, and the Secretary of the Gaming Board, Mr. Verdant Scott and his team of Bahamians and AG Consultant, Gaming Integrity Services and White Sands Gaming have reached the next and important stage in Interactive Gaming.

Pursuant to the new Legislation, the Gaming Board. with the concurrence of my Office, issued an invitation to participate in a Request for Proposal (“RFP”) process for GamingHouse Operator Licenses. On or about March 10,2015 nine Responses to that RFP were received. There were no objections.

Upon receipt of these Responses the Gaming Board, by and through its newly formed Intelligence, Investigations and Enforcement (“IIE”) Department, commenced the conduct of a probity investigation to determine each Applicant’s suitability, based upon its integrity, character, reputation, prior conduct, habits, associations, financial stability, criminal record, competence and experience, to hold a Gaming House Operator License.

Drawing upon significant past investigative experience within the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Gaming Board, IIE’s Special Agents conducted an exhaustive background investigation designed to ensure that any person awarded an opportunity to participate in this regularized domestic gaming sector meets the qualification standards articulated in Section 24 of the Gaming Act and is able to establish that they are not disqualified for licensure based upon acts or events under Sections 25 and 26 of the Gaming Act.

In order to ensure a uniform, objective and measurable approach to licensure, the Gaming Act, by and through the RFP process, identified critical standards and benchmarks that related to each Applicant’s qualification and eligibility to hold a Gaming House Operator License as well as to attributes central to the current and prospective financial viability of the Applicant and, as a corollary, to its capacity to create and maintain employment and to generate tax revenue. The eligibility standards were:

a. Qualification: The Probity Investigation;

b. Bahamian Ownership;

c. Financial Stability;

d. Compliant Server Location;

e. Compliance with the December 2014 Affidavit on Premises and

Agents; and

f. Sufficiency of Contributions Required by the Gaming Act.

 

Eight companies have been found to have met their burden of proof and, on that basis, are awarded a Conditional Gaming House Operator License:

 

  • FML Group of Companies Ltd. (t/a FML Web Shop)
  • GLK Limited (t/a A Sure Win)
  • Jarol Investments Limited (t/a Chances Games)
  • Paradise Games Bahamas Limited (t/a Paradise Games)
  • Playtech Systems Limited (t/a Island Luck)
  • T.I.G. Investments Limited (t/a Percy’s at The Island Game)
  • The Four Point Group (t/a Asue Draw + Spin)
  • Bahama Dreams Web Cafe Limited (t/a Bahama Dreams)

 

On October 19, 2015 notice of an award or disqualification to each Applicant, as appropriate pursuant to Section 85(22) of the Act will be given. On November 2, 2015 Statement of Condition review period ends and Gaming House Operator Conditional Licenses will be issued by the Gaming Board under Section 32(5).

Upon Issuance, Annual License and Monitoring Fees are assessed as follows:

Operator: $250,000.00

Premises: $ 2000.00 per Premises

Agent: $ 1,000.00 per Agent

The effective closure date for the disqualified Applicant will be October 26th 2015.

The successful applicants must now complete a series of regulatory requirements before receiving a plenary Gaming House Operator Licence.