Web shops may be shut down for as long as three months if the January 28 gambling referendum passes, to give the government time to properly regulate the sector, Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe said. Wilchcombe, who has ministerial oversight for gaming, said the government would need between 30 and 90 days to process and approve web shop licenses, among other things. "We are at the moment receiving information from around the world just to make sure, looking at the various models, to make sure that we have at our doorsteps immediately all the materials required if we have to go in the direction of yes," he said. "If that is the case then we will have to set a time frame for when everything will be in place because you'll... have to perhaps stop the system and then restart it so that everything can fall within a new ambit of the law."
When asked if web shops will stay open during the transition process, he said, "Instinctively, I say no." He added: "I don't think they will be able to because we'll have to put everything in place and we have to issue licenses for it. "Technically, nobody has a license for it right now. Don't forget the fee for the license has to be paid and the license will have to be issued. So all that will come subsequent if the answer is yes. "So obviously there will have to be a time to allow it, whether it's 30 days, 60 days or 90 -- I would think no more than 90 days." Prime Minister Perry Christie has said web shops could face up to $1 million in licensing fees and a performance bond. He has also said that only a small number of web shops will be licensed in a regulated market.
The government could gain $15 million to $20 million a year if web shops are taxed, according to the prime minister. Christie and Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis have both raised concerns about possible money laundering and threats to the country's financial services reputation if numbers houses are not regulated. The sector employs unregulated banking systems and processes large amounts of cash in-house and online. Wilchcombe said the Christie administration has started discussions with international companies that have crafted proposals on how the government can guard against money laundering. "We've had a number of proposals from companies from India, the United States of America, we've been talking to them," he said.
"The company in India, its background is dealing with technology relating to money laundering, so that's been very intriguing for us. "But we've also had companies that have come in and discussed with us a number of components of gaming, the types of games that are used in web shops, the monitoring of web shops." The referendum will ask voters whether they wish to see the numbers businesses legalized and whether they want a national lottery established. Wilchcombe said the government has not done much preparatory work for a national lottery and he could not say how much it would cost to establish.
He said a lottery would likely take more money and time to implement than regulating the web shops. "You have to put in monitoring systems, technology has to be put in place, then of course you have to put the right staff in place and the purchasing agents, or ways to allow people to buy," Wilchcombe said. "So there is a cost involved and I don't think it's a cheap cost. "We have not gone to the point of absolutely looking at the lottery yet in terms of preparation... I think the lottery would be a while because new legislation [is] required, all sorts of things to ensure that it's done right." In addition to preparing for a possible legalized industry, the Ministry of Tourism has also compiled information on how to help gambling addicts, Wilchcombe said.
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