Gaming commission has ample work, say chair and CEO
The Bermuda Gaming Commission has insisted it has ample work to do, even in the absence of either a casino or betting shop industry.
Cheryl-Ann Mapp, its chairwoman, and Charmaine Smith, the BGC’s chief executive, provided written answers to questions from The Royal Gazette about the quango’s work, after the Premier told Parliament earlier this month that there was “not enough demand” or interest for a viable gaming sector.
They shared that the commission, which has five full-time staff, deals with about 40 to 50 licences for cruise ship casinos annually, along with at least five Crown & Anchor permits.
It has received no new applications for a casino licence in the past five years and no completed applications for a bookmaker licence since August 2021, when new legislation concerning the latter industry came into effect.
The BGC gets an $800,000 grant each year from the public purse and brings in $835,000 in revenue: $830,000 from cruise ship casino licence fees and $5,000 from Crown and Anchor permit applications and the renewal of gaming supplier vendor licences.
The Gazette revealed in June 2024 that Ms Smith and the BGC’s other two senior executives earn almost $50,000 a month between them.
Ms Mapp and Ms Smith could not provide a breakdown of how much of the commission’s time and budget was spent on each of its areas of responsibility, which are casino gaming, betting shops, lotteries, cruise ship casinos and Crown & Anchor.
“The discharge of the commission’s activities varies and as such it is difficult to provide a precise response,” they wrote.
“There is no separate budget for each of the items noted.”
They pointed the public to the BGC’s website for details about the roles and responsibilities of the five employees.
Asked if there was enough work for five full-time staff, without any casinos or betting shops to oversee, they replied: “Yes.”
The pair disclosed that the commission’s board met eight times in the past year, with Ms Mapp setting the meeting schedule.
They confirmed that the BGC moved from its Hamilton office last April after the lease expired and the landlord requested the return of the premises. It now operates from Flatts.
The commission is required by law to provide the Minister of Finance with a report on its activities and finances no later than six months after the end of each fiscal year and the minister must then provide a copy to Parliament as soon as practicable.
David Burt, the Premier and finance minister tabled the BGC’s reports for 2020 to 2023 in the House of Assembly in July 2024.
Those reports revealed the commission’s failed efforts at solving the banking issues that have held up the launch of a casino industry.
Mr Burt told the House of Assembly on March 13 that communications with the US Office of the Comptroller of Currency, the primary federal regulator for the US banking system, had resolved the impasse over correspondent banking that had hamstrung gaming here.
However, he said there simply was not the “volume which is required” for banks to get involved with the sector.
The commission said in its written response to the Gazette that its financial statements for 2024 and 2025 “remain unaudited”.
Asked to comment on how the correspondent banking issue was resolved and what needs to happen next to get the industry up and running, the reply was: “BGC has no information regarding correspondent banking to provide.
“Potential/interested casino operators can pursue banking services from local banks in keeping with the legislative requirement.”
Ms Smith and Ms Mapp said they could not comment on whether further gaming legislation was being drafted by the commission or whether Fairmont Southampton’s owners had asked for the hotel’s gaming site designation to be extended past April 2027, as both matters were confidential.
The BGC has a Problem Gaming Council, which is still in existence.
Ms Smith and Ms Mapp wrote: “The council is a statutory body, authorised and required to do things under the gaming legislation.
“They are also entitled to regulate their own procedure, thus meet when necessary.”
The Gazettereported in June 2024 that the commission had cost taxpayers more than $16 million since it was formed in 2015.
Since then, it has had two further government grants of $800,000 each.
• To read the full Q&A, see Related Media
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