By Maureen Williamson
Gaming practitioners from around the Caribbean & Americas will be converging on Sint Maarten during the first week of June for the 4th Dutch Caribbean AML & Gaming Regulation Forum. Presented by GovRisk, a UK-based consultancy specialising in Anti-Corruption and Financial Crime Prevention and in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Traffic and Telecommunications (TEATT), the forum will be hosted at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort June 4-7.
The forum aims to bring together all the key regional stakeholders, such as gaming and lottery operators, in addition to other sectors with significant cash-flows as well as regulators, law enforcement and supervisory bodies, plus those providing products and services to these industries.
One session of note for the region will look at cases where gaming expansion has been successfully utilised as a targeted tool for assisting struggling communities and depressed industries; the watchword being “successfully”.
Advances in technology and the increased social acceptability of gaming as a form of entertainment have fostered a new generation of game offerings that go well beyond the slot machines and table games traditionally associated with casinos.
For instance, Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), Online and Mobile Gaming and Advance Deposit Wagering in horse-racing are all viable options for jurisdictions.
Interestingly, expansion these days often involves combining these new gaming offerings with an expanded category of Operator, for example, a limited number of VLTs in bars, restaurants or truck stops.
Are any of these expansion options right for your region? Can they fill budget shortfalls or fund our new initiatives without cannibalising the revenue generated by the existing gaming sectors? Or, more importantly, having a negative impact on local life and society? At any rate, it is certainly worth considering and weighing the options.
Another point of discussion at the forum will be the expansion opportunities available to the Dutch Caribbean region as a result of the recent adoption of legislation in Nevada and other well-regulated gaming jurisdictions authorising reciprocity agreements with Online Gaming and Common Risk Pool Participation for foreign Sports Books.
Reciprocity agreements are comparable in form to multi-jurisdictional lottery games like Powerball. Take a Dutch Caribbean online operator for example, who is permitted to enter into a reciprocity agreement with a New Jersey online operator; they would likely find increased volume, and diversity of player activity on their online platform would generate more choice in games, broader opportunities for minimum and maximum wagers and ultimately more revenue.
The upcoming forum will offer all relevant regional professionals with what amounts to a guided tour of the expansion options. The presenters are all internationally recognised experts, currently practising and they each have decades of hands-on experience developing and implementing gaming expansion legislation and regulating each gaming product.
It will also provide a unique opportunity for regional experts to engage in constructive conversations aimed at ensuring that our governments and operators are tuned in to the changing demands of younger, international players and help them to better understand the regulatory risks and actual revenue potential associated with meeting them.
Ultimately, the forum aims to foster and encourage dialogue between all the key stakeholders for the benefit of the Dutch Caribbean and in the context of the looming Mutual Evaluations that will be conducted in both Sint Maarten and Curaçao in 2022.
About the author
Maureen Williamson, a former gaming regulator of New Jersey, is now in private practise as a gaming consultant. She has been in gaming either as a regulator, attorney or operational consultant for more than 30 years. Her areas of expertise include the drafting of enabling legislation and operating regulations, design and evaluation of systems of internal control, technical standards for emerging technologies including iGaming, facility development, feasibility determinations and the drafting and implementation of consulting, development and management agreements.
The Future of Gaming in Your Jurisdiction will be featured at the upcoming 4th Dutch Caribbean AML & Regulation Forum, June 4-7, at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort in Sint Maarten. To register, go to www.govrisk/DCGRF2019 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
