Operatornieuws

Chile – Municipal casinos to remain open until new licences are granted

The Chilean Gaming Control Board (SJC) has issued Circular Number 84 which confirms that the municipal casinos in the communes of Arica, Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña Del Mar, Pucón, Puerto Varas and Natales will remain open until the new operators are ready to take over.

Volgens een verklaring van de Raad van Bestuur: “Wet nr. 19,995 garandeert de continuïteit van de zeven gemeentelijke casino’s voor een totaal van drie perioden van elk vijftien jaar, en zet de procedure uiteen voor het verlenen van exploitatievergunningen voor de specifieke gevallen en verwijst naar de overgang van de huidige concessies, staat het de continuïteit van de exploitatie ervan toe totdat een nieuwe exploitant – berecht volgens de door de wet aangegeven procedure – in staat is om te opereren.”

De circulaire bekrachtigt wet nr. 19,995 (Chili's casinowet) als het gaat om de verlenging van de gemeentelijke vergunningen. De zeven gemeentelijke vergunningen blijven van kracht totdat de SJC een certificaat afgeeft waaruit blijkt dat de nieuwe casino's voldoen aan een aantal strikte wettelijke en reglementaire verplichtingen.

While the statement says that Law Number 19.995 sets a deadline for 31 December 2017 for the municipal governments and the current licence holders to agree on new contracts and extensions, the law according to the SJC, does not actually set December 2017 as the deadline for the new casinos to be operational.
It could provide the SJC some breathing room when it comes to the process of granting new licences which has suffered a number of delays and setbacks. In October last year the SJC announced that it had decided to postpone the hearing for the submission of tenders for the bidding for the municipal casino licences which had been scheduled to take place on November 4th. According to a statement released by the SJC via its website the decision was made while the The Santiago Appeals Court considers a number of motions put forward by investors. Investors have filed a writ of amparo – a remedy for the protection of their constitutional rights. A number of companies have argued that the demands put on operators applying for the casino licences are excessive and would make the businesses unprofitable. According to the statement released by the SJC at the time all seven of the municipal casino licences are now on hold and will resume once the court has made its decision.

According to estimates released by the SJC, the new tender process could help raise tax income generated for the state by the new casinos by as much as 46 per cent on average while gross gaming income (which will be divided equally between the municipality and the state where the casino is located) will increase by 20 per cent. This will herald in a number of new large scale casinos especially as a number of the municipal casino licenses, such as the licence for Vina del Mar, are located in the most popular local tourists destinations.