Sunday, April 08, 2007

The government of Antigua and Barbuda's Division of Gaming in the Financial
Services Regulatory Commission is slated to revamp its regulations in the
coming days. The Antigua is undergoing an extensive review and overhaul of
its regulations with the assistance of Mark Mendel, the government's
attorney in the World Trade Organisation gaming dispute which Antigua won,
and other consultants. "That went very, very well. We had a one day
symposium last week. We had a very interactive and robust session but at the
end of the whole day we came out with very comprehensive regulations,"
Director of Gaming Kaye MacDonald said. "I think it's balanced. It keeps in
mind national best practices while at the end of the day incorporating the
commercial realities of our operators." McDonald said that the revised
regulations were approved by Minister of Finance and the Economy Dr. Errol
Cort, who signed off on them last Friday. "Substantively, the regulations
still remain but Antigua & Barbuda, being one of the [regulatory] pioneers
within the Internet gaming environment, is always endeavoring to enforce the
international best practices and industry standards. The process is always
evolving," she explained. The division has indicated that the jurisdiction
is focusing on tightened control of the Internet gambling industry operating
out of Antigua under government licenses. There have been many new inquiries
reported in the past six months, primarily a result of Costa Rican
authorities lax stance on their own online gambling industry. Antigua first
began regulating internet gambling licensees in 1995. The first online
sports betting operations began setting up shop there in 1992.