With the Curacao gambling sector only just falling into his remit, the country’s Minister of Justice, Shalten Hato, is already making significant updates to the LoK regime in the country.
Hato has taken major steps to fix the Alternative Dispute Resolution process, which had been criticised as having potentially ‘industry-centric bias to the management of complaints, baked into the system’.
During a previous analysis, iGaming Expert had identified that there were potential shortcomings in the ADR resolution policy, however, Hato’s latest reforms have blocked the potential “territorial ringfencing of ADR approval”.
The latest changes from Hato all but eradicate these fears, and close potential loopholes in the ADR process. Hato has banned ADR providers from having any affiliate or B2B involvement with operators.
Additionally, ADR officials are also prohibited from offering any B2B services to Curacao operators, with independent lawyers being required for the process. In order to fully ensure the process is neutral and bias does not plague the system, conflicts of interests are banned, and the CGA has the ability to remove bodies at any time.
One of the key fears was the necessity for the ADR lawyer to have a background in Curacao, a territory that is so ingrained in the gambling sector, leading to trepidation that links to the industry would be unavoidable, whichever lawyer was selected.
Nonetheless, the updated text from Hato underlines that official ADR entities solely need to meet the CGA certification criteria, with nothing in the policy now leading to them having local incorporation or Curacao residence.
Furthermore, so long as they are willing to undergo CGA due diligence, the process is now seemingly expanded to international lawyers, in a significant shift for the framework’s ADR policy.
Also of importance is the 90-day window that has now been implemented to ensure ADR cases are dealt with in a timely manner. This marks a milestone in how Curacao deals with ADR cases, with a timeline not having previously been established.
Hato has clearly elevated the focus on consumer protection as Curacao enters a new era of gaming regulation with the implementation of the LoK.
Significant for both parties is the finality of ADR resolution: once an ADR process concludes, the dispute cannot be transferred to another ADR provider. This adds procedural certainty and prevents “ADR shopping”.
However, ADR rulings are only binding on operators, not on players. This may create a situation where operators must accept every ADR outcome, however, players remain free to reject an unfavourable ruling and pursue the matter through other legal or regulatory avenues.
As a result, operators may be cautious, recognising that a determined player can effectively “walk away” from an ADR outcome and escalate through courts or alternative frameworks, even though Curaçao prohibits re-opening ADR with a second provider.
The initial steps from Hato will only serve to increase his embracing by many in the industry, after the CGA’s supervision was switched from the Finance to the Justice department following controversy surrounding Curacao’s Finance Minister, Javier Silvania, who has since resigned.
One of the key allegations levelled against Silvania related to the process of the issuing of “provisional” online gambling licences, with allegations that several had been granted prior to the Lok being enacted, which led to questioning of their legitimacy.
Even amid the political tensions, the CGA issued assurances that the process to appoint new members of the board is underway, and the implementation of the Lok remains on course and uninterrupted.
The CGA’s Aideen Shortt stated: “Supervision and governance within the CGA continue uninterrupted. The Authority remains fully functional and independent, continuing to implement and enforce Curaçao’s new regulatory framework under the LOK.
“Despite sensationalist headlines and fake-news articles, there is no delay or deviation in the rollout of the LOK, and no disruption to the CGA’s licensing or compliance programmes.”
Hato is a much less polarising figure and has seemingly sought to take a tougher approach to money laundering in the country, publicly emphasising that there has been an increase in prosecutions for the crime.
During a recent Parliamentary meeting, he outlined statistics that revealed that 26 individuals had been prosecuted for money laundering. Furthermore, he also detailed that money laundering cases linked to drug trafficking had risen last year – as he sought to showcase a tougher stance against illicit money.
