Unregulated US operators surrender online gambling licenses
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) has changed its licensing policy and will no longer issue online gambling licenses to operators targeting customers in the US.
Canada.- The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) has changed its licensing policy and will no longer issue online gambling licenses to operators targeting customers in the U.S.
The KGC, which is based in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake in Canada, has acted as an international online gambling regulator since 1999. The KGC list of permit holders shows 104 gambling domains actively licensed.
“After careful consideration, the Kahnawàke Gaming Commission (the “Commission”) has directed that an applicant or existing licensee that accepts players from a US State without being authorized by the US State to do so, is engaged in an activity that adversely affects Kahnawàke’s jurisdictional integrity or reputation (the “regulatory directive”),” reads the KGC press release. “An application from an operator that engages in this activity will be denied. Existing licensees have been advised that, not later than September 30, 2016, they must modify their operations to conform to the Commission’s regulatory directive or their licenses will be terminated.”
On September 26, the same day as the policy was promulgated, a separate notice announced that “Salmon River Technologies Limited (www.bovada.lv) and Lynton Limited (www.cafecasino.lv, www.slots.lv and www.ignitioncasino.eu) have both voluntarily terminated their Client Provider Authorizations.”
Salmon River sold its online poker business to Lynton early in August, but retained casino and sports betting under the Bovada brand. On its part, Ignition online poker must now decide to apply for a license in another jurisdiction, such as Panama, Costa Rica or Curacao, or continue operating without a regulatory badge.
An announcement on the same day from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) provided the background to the KGC’s change of policy.
“The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) today announced that it has reached a series of agreements related to its licensee, Continent 8, LLC, that will prevent illegal Internet gaming websites from accepting bets from residents of the United States and New Jersey through a data center located on the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Canada.”
