Kahnawake Gaming Commission

The tiny jurisdiction of Kahnawake is formed from an Indian tribal reservation of the Mohawk tribe of native North American Indians situated in Canada in the province of Quebec and not far from the city of Montreal. The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory has the power to regulate its own gaming and gambling activities independently of the Canadian state and federal legislature and the reservation has long been a site for land based gaming and gambling with several physical casinos located in this popular tourist spot in Canada. Kahnawake has also become one of the leading jurisdictions for operators to base their international online and remote gaming and gambling operations due to the business and tax incentives that are available.

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission oversees licensing and regulatory activities including interactive operators with effect from 1996 when it was established following the enactment of the Kahnawake Gaming Law. The remit of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission was further charged with online and remote gaming and gambling oversight with the enablement of the Regulations Concerning Interactive Gaming in July 1999.

The regulations revolve around three major principles; only suitable, fit and proper persons may operate gaming and gambling businesses that games offered are fair and honest and finally, that winners are paid. All interactive (i.e. internet) operations are hosted and managed by Mohawk Internet Technologies who are responsible for all of the operations in all of the Mohawk territories and not just those in Kahnawake.

A CAD $5,000 application fee is payable for the interactive gaming license and this is non-refundable with applicants also being required to pay a non-refundable CAD$15,000 deposit to pay for the cost of due diligence and fit and proper investigations as well as extensive systems testing to ensure the technical standards of interactive gaming and gambling are complied with. The license is issued for two year periods and there is an annual licensing fee of CAD $10,000 which is levied.

Key person licenses are also required and each individual occupying a prominent role or management position within the operating company must hold a license which costs CAD$ 2,500 to apply for.

License holders may be further authorised to host interactive gaming and gambling sites for third parties and there is a fee of CAD $5,000 for such authorization and a license fee structure which closely follows those of the master license.

Kahnawake maintains a high standard of regulatory compliance and enforcement and it came as some surprise that Kahnawake was not initially included upon the UK Gambling Commission's White List; the UK White List includes only those jurisdictions which the UK Gambling Commission believes has a standard of regulation and consumer protection which is at least the equal of those in the UK. After relatively recent legislation, only those operators who were based in a White List jurisdiction could promote and market their services in the UK which led to a serious impact upon the business of Kahnawake operators. The current dispute between the UK and Kahnawake authorities continues and has led to many operators abandoning Kahnawake as a base for their operations though this may become moot if recent efforts to gain admittance to the White List are successful.