— Next forum planned to be held on St. Maarten
The Honorable Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT) attended the 3rd Dutch Caribbean Gaming and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulation Forum in Aruba last week. Johnson headed the delegation which comprised of Cabinet Policy Advisor Otmar Jonis, TEATT Inspection Department Head Lucien Wilson and Jude Houston of TEATT Policy Department.
“I am elated to announce that within short, I intend to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bring this forum to St. Maarten” remarked Minister Johnson. “The entire delegation was able to gain knowledge and insight into regulation of the gaming and lottery industry, but the bigger news, the success of bringing this forum to St. Maarten next year, 2019″ Minister Johnson added.
The forum’s principle objective is to look at gaming regulation in the context of regional growth, improved transparency, and greater social responsibility. The program was designed to provide a platform for operators, regulators, and suppliers to the gaming and banking industries to share intelligence, discuss regulatory developments and address the common challenges they face within these dynamic and ever-evolving sectors.
Johnson said, “Compared to our sister island Curacao, we are still to establish a Gaming Control Board, however it is in the Governing Program of which I am committed to.”
The forum focused on applying international best practices in participating jurisdictions to better enable operators to avoid reputational damage, and possible sanction from Casino and AML/CFT regulators, as well as recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). FATF is an intergovernmental organization which is charged with developing policies to combat money laundering, and terrorism financing, of which the Dutch Kingdom is one of the 37 member territories. Additionally, the need to encourage improved commercial and regulation in the region is key, as the forum ultimately served to improve both the bottom line of operators and the performance of the sector as a whole.
Some of the topics covered at the forum included, “the future risk of Cybercrime and Cryptocurrencies, Gaming or Gaming: Challenges in Regulation Policy, Correspondent Banking, De-Risking, Financial Inclusion and the Gaming Sector, Responsible Gaming-Everybody Wins, Designing regulatory policy and Digital Identity and its implications for online gaming among others”.
“I fully intend to start the promotion, when we host the 4th Dutch Caribbean Gaming and AML Regulation Forum, during the 6th Annual Caribbean & Americas Gaming Regulation Forum which will further strengthen its success”, Minister Johnson concluded.