Antigua Sailing towards being White Listed
Written by Roger S | Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
The tiny Caribbean island state of Antigua could be one step nearer to being added to the British online casino and poker room white list after a meeting with representatives from the two countries.
Dr. Errol Cort, Antigua’s Minister of Finance, reported that a meeting at the end of last week was ‘favorable”.
This is leading to speculation that Britain may soon reverse its decision not to allow Antiguan-based online casinos and poker rooms to advertise in the UK media.
At the beginning of the month, the UK’s Gambling Commission announced that Antigua, along with another jurisdiction hopeful, the Canadian Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, would not be added to the country’s ‘white list’ of locations outside of Britain that were considered of a high enough standard to serve the UK gambling public and thus advertise in local media.
Although no reason was given for the rejection of these countries’ application, it is believed that their poor reputation for communicating with players who had problems, in sufficient time was part of the decision.
Dr. Cort visited the UK Minister of Sport, Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe last week in the hope that he and his delegation would be able to change the decision by presenting the minister with all the information and documents that he required, and also to answer any questions or concerns that he may have had over Antigua’s addition to the white list. Dr. Cort was accompanied by one of the legal advisors who represented his country in the recent World Trade Organization case against the US, Mark Mendel, as well as the UK High Commissioner, Dr. Carl Roberts, the island state’s Director of Gaming, Kaye McDonald and others.
After the meeting, Dr. Cort said: “I was happy to learn that very little stands in the way of our approval for white listing, and I think I can express confidence that this issue will be resolved favorably in the very near future.”
Kaye McDonald added, “We are acknowledged global leaders in the regulation of this industry. Our standards are the highest in the world and we view the white listing as important to demonstrate our commitment to the highest standards in the supervision and oversight of this dynamic industry.”
If Errol Cort’s predictions are correct, a significant number of online poker rooms and casinos will soon be able to advertise their wares in the United Kingdom, bolstering their reputations and increasing their traffic.
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