FNM Party gambling bill revealed in Bahamas

Under the law, a licensed business would have had to pay, within seven days after a license approval, a cash bond of us$ 2 million if the business waged us$ 100 million a year or us$ 5 million if the amount exceeded us$ 100 million.

The bill defined computer wagering as “any wagering where any player enters a wager by means of a computer and the receiving of any wager by means of telecommunications”.
The bill also said, “The Computer Wagering Licensing Board would not grant a computer wagering license to any individual who is not a resident in The Bahamas or was not so resident throughout the period of 10 years immediately preceding the date on which the application was made.”

The regulations would have required every employee of a computer wagering business to undergo a thorough background check.

The bill stipulated that, “Before employing a manger, assistant manager, supervisor or any other employee to perform duties on the licensed premises in respect of his computer wagering business, a licensee shall inform the board of the proposed appointment for the purpose of ensuring that no undesirable persons have access as employees to the licensed premises, and the board shall make or cause to be made such investigation as may seem to it necessary to determine the character and moral integrity of the proposed employee.”

The bill stipulated that no one under the age of 21 would be allowed to enter a licensed computer wagering premises or place wagers with an agent of a computer wagering license.
It noted that the minister responsible may restrict the number of computer wagering licenses and may set the computer wagering odds of winning as he sees fit.

Under the Ingraham government bill, “The board would not grant a computer wagering license to any individual who is under 21, not a resident of The Bahamas or to any individual or company that the minister is not satisfied does not have sufficient length of experience or reputation in the computer wagering business.”

In addition, no credit card would have been accepted as payment for wagering. Each business would have to pay an annual license fee of us$ 50,000. An annual fee of us$ 1,000 was required for each licensed agent.

Each third party premises where computer wagering was taking place would have had to pay an annual fee of up to us$ 20,000 depending on the number of computers being used.
At the end of every month the business would have had to pay 15 percent of the gross sum waged.

Prime Minister Perry Christie has said on more than one occasion that the FNM had set out comprehensive legislation for gaming and criticized FNM Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis for his opposition to the referendum.

Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe, who has responsibility for gaming, has said the government would take into consideration the proposed legislation and regulations left by the Ingraham administration before drafting legislation and regulations if the January 28 gambling referendum passes.