Draft Bill guards against gaming corruption.
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| Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission chairman Alan Dunch (File photograph) |
Sam Strangeways.
Legislation to ban politicians from involvement in the gaming industry for two years after they leave office is being proposed.
A draft Bill to amend the Casino Gaming Act has been drawn up by the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission but elements of it are expected to spark heated debate if it is tabled in the House of Assembly.
The most contentious aspect of the Bill is likely to be a section which sets out how to protect Bermuda’s gaming industry from “corruption and bribery” — a very necessary addition to the original Act if the island is to be taken seriously by overseas regulators, according to commission chairman Alan Dunch.
The Bill has the full support of the independent five-person commission but getting it passed by a majority of MPs may prove tricky for the Government, since one of its own backbenchers, Mark Pettingill, is a lawyer who represents clients with interests in the gaming industry, as is independent MP Shawn Crockwell.
Former Attorney-General Mr Pettingill and former tourism minister Mr Crockwell, both of whom were instrumental in getting gambling legalised in Bermuda while in Cabinet, have recently acted for the Morgan’s Point developers in relation to gaming.
The MPs are with Chancery Legal, which was formerly called Pettingill & Co law firm, and the practice lists “gaming” as one of its specialities in its Bermuda Yellow Pages advert. Clients with gaming interests are believed to form the majority of the firm’s business.
The pair are likely to vote against the Bill in its existing form in the House, which could be enough to see it defeated, since the One Bermuda Alliance has a slender parliamentary majority. But failing to table it or watering it down is not likely to sit well with commissioners.
Mr Dunch, who drafted the Bill, told The Royal Gazette there could be no real argument against trying to ensure a corruption-free gaming industry for the island.
“The commission is tremendously concerned to ensure that if and to the extent there are perceived areas of corruption that we shut those down so that the perception goes away effectively,” he said.
“Every jurisdiction in the United States has something like this. There are a number of jurisdictions that have done this. The period of time varies — some [ban involvement] for one year after leaving office, some for two and some for three.
“I have recommended two years. I think two is a reasonable period of time. The aim is simply protection from corruption or bribery. Like it or not, the gaming industry worldwide is regarded by the authorities as an industry that’s ripe for corruption.
“[And] I think historically that would be the case. Today, the truth of the matter is that in most jurisdictions, it’s so heavily regulated that the extent of corruption is probably fairly minimal and certainly, in this jurisdiction, it’s our objective as a commission to ensure that the potential for corruption is nil.
“The starting point has to be to look at the people who run the country and say ‘you people can’t be involved in anything to do with gaming moving forward while you are in a position of influence and for a cooling-off period after you have left any position of influence’.”
He said as well as sitting politicians, the amendment would preclude commission members, commission employees and civil servants who have “in any way touched upon gaming issues or people associated with gaming, from being able to derive a benefit from that relationship”.
Mr Dunch said: “After all, we don’t want people resigning from political or civil service positions because they are offered the opportunity to be involved in the gaming industry. It then goes right back to the potential for people to be bribed, for votes to be bought, for influence to be brought to bear.”
He added that there were “any number of reasons” why an MP or senator simply opting out of a vote on a gaming matter wouldn’t suffice.
“It’s not a case of it [corruption] will happen or it might happen, it’s the perception that it could happen that has to be negated. This is being done in the context of introducing a regulatory regime for Bermuda that will pass muster with the regulatory regimes in the other major [gaming] jurisdictions.”
The commission chairman explained that Bermuda’s regulators needed help from their overseas counterparts to investigate the suitability of potential casino licence holders. Those regulators would be unlikely to assist, he said, if they viewed Bermuda’s system as being “suspect”.
“In order to conduct a suitable investigation from scratch we would have to spend a considerable amount of money and an awful lot of time,” said Mr Dunch, noting that co-operation between regulators was far preferable.
He added that the commission has consulted closely with major local accounting services firms, who he said regard the legislation as an important element of the island’s anti-money laundering regime.
The commission has proposed a package of more than 40 amendments to the original Casino Gaming Act, with the draft legislation expected to be debated in the House before the end of the year.
The original Act allows interested parties to apply to become a designated site where a casino could be housed. Successful applicants can then apply for a casino licence but are not guaranteed one, as the commission is limited to only approving three.
Two hotels have already been given designated site status: the Hamilton Princess and the St Regis in St George’s, which is being developed by the Desarrollos Group.
The developers of Morgan’s Point, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve resort projected to cost $400 million, have applied for designated site status.
One of the developers, Nelson Hunt, told a public meeting in 2014 that if Morgan’s Point didn’t get permission to operate a casino “we would be very mad people, because we have made a major, major investment. I would be some kind of p****d off if someone jumped in front and, believe me, I can go ballistic”.
Mr Pettingill and Mr Crockwell declined to comment for this story.
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