Kahnawake Jurisdiction
The Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake first attracted a lot of attention when in July 2005, a report from the Law Commission of Canada questioned the legality of the internet gambling sites operating on the reserve since the late nineties. Under the Canadian Criminal Code, provincial governments are the only ones that can operate online gambling websites and while the Mohawks of Kahnawake consider themselves an independent state, the question whether the Territory of Kahnawake can be considered a provincial government remains open.
More recently, another Canadian native band, the Alexander First Nation, announced a plan to build a safe regulatory environment for people who enjoy online gambling.
Kahnawake Gaming Comission
We bet that not once you came across an online casino website and saw the “Licensed by Kahnawake Gaming Commission” sign. Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC) is one of the most reputed jurisdictions that perform regulating and licensing of online gaming operators, such as online poker rooms and casino websites. KGC is a regulating body in charge of licensing online gaming operations and interactive wagering processes on the territory of Mohawk region of Kahnawake – territory of a reserve located near Montreal, Canada.
The main advantage of KGC is its location in North America. It is the one and only organization that has servers hosting real-money online gambling sites in this territory. Other real-money online casinos are targeted at Europe, Australia, or Caribbean.
KGC was established in 1996 and started the online gambling licensing from 1999. The commission model of rules, regulations and standards is based on the Australian practice of licenses issuing. The basic principles of KGC functioning are as follows:
- Fair gaming. All gambling games provided to online players must be delivered on an honest and fair basis.
- Payouts guarantee. Winners must be paid with their gains at all times without exceptions.
- Geographical reference. Suitable individuals and entities only have a permission to use gambling services of an online casino through this jurisdiction.
KGC currently consists of three responsible members empowered to make licensing and regulation of online gambling activity under the commission jurisdiction. The members are appointed by Mohawk council of Kahnawake.
KGC Application Standards
Potential online casino operators need to meet high industry requirements imposed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission to be licensed by the organization, including proven solving of such issues like underage gaming and problem waging. The organization is empowered to perform control and fully regulate all online gambling activities taking place on the Kahnawake territory.
KGC reputation stems from the studiousness of initial application scrutinizing. The Commission has established high industry standards to ensure fairness and reliability of every online gambling business performance. The consideration of the initial applications presupposes scrutiny of the following objectives:
- license background
- software reliability and fairness
- ability to pay off the gains
To ensure the abovementioned issues meet the requirements and the information provided by a company is proven and trusted an independent third party is involved to check the information veracity as well as to make the audit of the software on the question of fairness.
The Kahnawake Gambling License is issued for two years. In order to apply for the license a potential gambling operator needs to furnish proofs of meeting the all the commission requirements and then pay a non-refundable fee for a license. A refundable license fee also needs to be paid for the first year, notwithstanding it will be returned in case of the application turning down. Currently the nonrefundable fee for the Kahnawake Gambling license application amounts to $5,000 CAD. The commission also requires additional nonrefundable deposit of $15,000 CAD to cover the costs of system testing and initial investigation. Annual license fee is $10,000 CAD.
After an online gambling operator passed the licensing process he should put a KGC logo linking to Kahnawake Gaming Commission official website. This measure provides the online casino website users with an opportunity to check whether the license was truly issued by KGC.
The commission reserves the right to revoke its license or even penalize the gaming business in case it does not comply with all the requirements and standards set forth by KGC. One of the main reasons for these sanctions to be imposed on an online casino is all kinds of unethical gaming practice. All online gambling activities should be performed according to the highest principles of integrity and fair play.
Contacts
Kahnawake Gaming Commission
P.O. Box 1799,
Old Malone Highway,
Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, QC J0L 1B0,
CANADA
Email: kgc@mck.ca
Phone: (450) 635-1076
Fax: (450) 635-1139
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