CNMI Court affirms suspension of IPI casino licence

The court ordered the Commonwealth Casino Commission to hold further proceedings to determine new payment deadlines.

Northern Mariana Islands.- The CNMI Supreme Court has confirmed the suspension of Imperial Pacific International’s exclusive casino licence in the Northern Mariana Islands. However, it has reversed certain aspects of a previous ruling and directs the Commonwealth Casino Commission (CCC) to conduct further proceedings to establish new deadlines for IPI’s missed payments.

The suspension of IPI’s casino licence was enacted by the CCC in April 2021 after IPI failed to make its payments, violating several conditions in its licence agreement. However, the Supreme Court found that CCC committed several errors, including failing to apply an amendment to IPI’s licence agreement that gave it until 2025 to complete Community Benefit Fund contributions

The court determined that penalties imposed by the CCC were inappropriate in light of a force majeure clause in the casino operator’s agreement.