While one observer has projected that it could be two years before the web shop regularization process is complete, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe said he expects the process to wrap up in under a year.
The Gaming Bill was passed in the House of Assembly on Monday and is expected to be debated and passed in the Senate next week, Wilchcombe said.
However, he said that the process would not end there.
"Once the law is passed, the intricate and necessary work begins," Wilchcombe acknowledged in a recent interview.
Wilchcombe noted that the government would have to issue requests for proposals (RFPs) to a "limited" number of web shop operators to apply for licences.
That process would require web shop bosses to present proposals to the Gaming Board detailing how they intend to run their web shop operations, how they intend to help the economy and how their businesses would protect their customers' information, among other things.
Those applications would then have to be investigated by the Gaming Board before approval is granted, according to the RFP.
Wilchcombe has said additional staff would have to be hired at the Gaming Board to accommodate new areas of regulated gaming.
Wilchcombe said the government is considering awarding eight operator licenses. Each operator would only be able attain a limited number of premises licenses, as the government seeks to control the number of web shops.
The financials of web shop operators will also be reviewed by officials ahead of license approvals.
"Vote yes" coordinator Philip Galanis told The Nassau Guardian recently that the vast amount of paperwork, training and ground work required to fully regularize the industry could take up to a "year or two".
But Wilchcombe said the government has already started work on the process.
"We have completed a significant amount of the leg work," he said.
"We have identified gaming experts, technological providers and have identified the needed staff.
"We will move with diligence and focused determination to complete the entire process. What is certain and a matter of fact is that the government will ensure that each step will meet the demands of international best practice."
He added that during the RFP process there would also be a lot of training taking place.
Attorney Wayne Munroe, who represents a group of prominent web shop owners, previously said several operators are already engaged in the process of readying their businesses for regulation.
"Right now, my clients are concerned with taking the steps to align their businesses to be able to comply with a regulated environment," he said earlier this month.
In doing so, he said his clients are "drawing up the necessary job descriptions, starting to work out the budgeting...all manner of things that have to be addressed in a regulated environment".
Only those web shops that receive an invitation from the government can apply to be licensed, according to the Gaming Bill.

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