Antigua and Kahnawake announce a “inter-jurisdictional” alliance: will Antigua remain on the UK Gambling Commission White List ?
Just when Google announced that licensed gambling companies will be allowed to run display campaigns on YouTube in the UK, a move that comes at the end of two years of discussions with media companies and major gambling operators, Antigua and Barbuda formed a “inter-jurisdictional” alliance with Kahnawake to allow licensed operators to host their sites in either jurisdiction.
The UK Gambling Commission, responding to a request submitted by a gambling consultant under the Freedom of Information Act claiming that the Gambling Commission never visited Antigua to examine its regulatory system before adding the island to its White List of approved gambling jurisdictions, recently tried to explain the process that made possible for Antigua to be added to the white list after being initially excluded.
For online gambling operators with a license in a jurisdiction on the Gambling Commission\’s White List it means the possibility to advertise in the UK.
The general counsel for Kahnawake immediately stated that the pact resulting from the alliance between Antigua and Kahnawake will not allow Kahnawake sites to advertise in the UK, but he also said the pact will provide an “unprecedented degree of flexibility for licensing and hosting needs”.
At the time of writing details remain unclear and is probably too early to make a definitive call, but “unprecedented flexibility for licensing needs” can only mean that they will make easier for companies that already have a license in one jurisdiction to either relocate or obtain a second license in the allied jurisdiction.
Now if we think that Kahnawake has 4 times the number of licensed operators that Antigua, including the poker sites involved in the superusers scandals two years ago and before it was closed by the Canadian Police the mafia-owned bookmaker BetWSC, and that the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was not too happy when the UK rejected their whitelist application, we would not be surprised to see Kahnawake operators relocating to Antigua under the new gambling alliance just to get access to the UK advertising market.
The UK Gambling Commission didn\’t explain in detail what changed between 2007, when Antigua white list application was rejected, and 2008, when Antigua was eventually accepted.
But they said that as part of their regulatory work they carry out ongoing reviews of white list operators.
Hopefully Antigua\’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission or its Directorate of Offshore Gaming will be able to provide the UK Gambling Commission formal guarantees that the pact with Kahnawake will not be used to provide Kahnawake operators a way to enter the UK advertising market. Do not hold your breath though.
Pierluigi Buccioli
Calculators