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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.

In einer vom Vorstand veröffentlichten Erklärung heißt es: „Das Gesetz Nr. 19,995 garantiert die Kontinuität der sieben städtischen Casinos für insgesamt drei Zeiträume von jeweils fünfzehn Jahren, legt das Verfahren zur Erteilung von Betriebsgenehmigungen für die angegebenen Fälle fest und verweist auf die Übergang der aktuellen Konzessionen gestattet es die Kontinuität des Betriebs dieser Konzessionen, bis ein neuer Betreiber – der nach dem im Gesetz vorgesehenen Verfahren entschieden wird – in der Lage ist, den Betrieb aufzunehmen.“

Das Rundschreiben ratifiziert das Gesetz Nr. 19,995 (Chiles Kasinogesetz), wenn es um die Verlängerung der kommunalen Lizenzen geht. Die sieben kommunalen Lizenzen bleiben in Kraft, bis das SJC ein Zertifikat ausstellt, das bescheinigt, dass die neuen Casinos eine Reihe strenger gesetzlicher und behördlicher Verpflichtungen einhalten.

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.