Kahnawake and Antigua gaming regulators sign agreement

Canadian based Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) has formed an “inter jurisdictional alliance” with Financial Services Regulatory Commission for Antigua and Barbuda (FSRC) that will allow casino licensees to host their servers in either jurisdiction.

In a move described by Murray Marshall, the general counsel for the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, as “an unprecedented degree of flexibility for licensing”, the agreement will mean that licensees in either Kahnawake or Antigua and Barbuda can choose to move their business to either location. It will produce mutually beneficial repercussions for both Kahnawake and Antigua and Barbuda- Mohawk Internet Technologies (MIT), a company which houses many of the servers used by casinos licensed in Kahnawake, will benefit from more business, and Antigua and Barbuda will be able to tap into MIT’s vast array of technology.

Out of the two jurisdictions, only Antigua is ‘white listed’, allowing casinos licensed there to legally advertise in the UK. The KGC has been seeking white listed status for some time and it is thought that the partnership of the two will strengthen support for the commission which operates from the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory and is a self-governing Native American Reserve in Quebec. Although it oversees and regulates online gaming sites in Canada, it only targets players outside of the country and it does not have the backing of the Canadian Government. Although Murray Marshall himself said of the FSRC, "Antigua's white list is only a benefit to Antigua's licensees”, it is thought that the alliance can only be a positive move in the rapidly expanding growth area of online gaming.