The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

WEBshop operators are contributing to the cost of the services for the government’s international and local gaming consultants, according to Prime Minister Perry Christie.

Mr Christie made the announcement in the House of Assembly last night during his budget contribution. He said the government has hired two separate firms, one local and one international, to advise and provide support on the issue of webshop gaming.

He said AG Consulting, an international gaming consulting firm based in South Africa and the local accounting firm of Grant Thornton, with access to specialised gaming accounting expertise from its world-wide practice, are advising the government.

“The webshop operators are contributing to the cost of the services of the government’s consultants,” he said. “Grant Thornton is recovering financial data from the webshop operators as well as information on games, IT systems, staffing etc, which is being analysed by both Grant Thornton and AG Consulting. This will enable the consultants to properly advise the government on appropriate policy, procedural and tax measures to be included in the new legislation and regularisation process.”

The prime minister also said consultation, led by the attorney general, is taking place with the Financial Task Force to ensure that the provisions of the proposed legislation and procedures will be in compliance with FATF guidelines.

He also said in addition to charges, fees and taxes which will be applied to web shop gaming operators, provisions will also be made for contributions to charitable and social causes.

“This is to ensure acceptance by banks of proceeds from legalised and regulated casinos and webshop operators. In this regard, consultation will continue with clearing banks operating in the Bahamas. The objective of this exercise is not to foster the proliferation of gaming among Bahamians but to control and regulate it. There will be a fixed number of webshop operator licences as well as webshop premises.

“Licences will be granted pursuant to detailed criteria to be set forth in an RFP, containing appropriate minimum criteria for the licensing of webshops, on the basis of which the application and licensing process will be managed,” he said.

“The bill and regulations will provide for applicable features of a successful, responsible gaming strategy including public education, protection and treatment of gambling addicts. It is envisaged that through a public-private sector initiative a foundation with a board of directors, with an independent chairperson, will be set up to administer the programme to be funded by the gaming industry. The public awareness and prevention component of the programme would be focused on taking proactive measures to inform the public of the potential dangers of gaming, the nature of gaming addiction and the symptoms of problem gaming, with a view to preventing problems before they occur, rather than simply responding to these problems once they have arisen.”

The government announced in March that web shop gaming will be regularized and taxed. The taxes will be retroactive to July 1. This is in spite of the results of the 2013 gambling referendum, which saw the majority of people who voted in that poll say no to regulating and taxing webshops.