Tilt receives Kahnawake licence renewal
New agreement lasts two years, but KGC will continue to monitor developments in Alderney.
Full Tilt Poker (FTP) has secured a renewal of its Secondary Client Provider Authorization (CPA) for its Kolyma company in the jurisdiction of Kahnawake, despite the continued suspension of its Alderney and French licences.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission (KGC), regulatory authority for the Canadian-based Mohawk territory, issued an official statement explaining that the renewal would last for two years, although it clarified that it would be “Closely monitoring the proceedings being conducted by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC)”.
Under the terms of Kahnawake regulations, “All Client Provider Authorizations issued by the Commission must be appended to a valid Interactive Gaming License,” and are “only valid and enforceable for so long as the Interactive Gaming License to which it is appended is in good standing”.
Normal circumstances require those with suspended licences to re-apply for a Secondary CPA, although it is unknown whether FTP did so in advance of this ruling from the KGC.
The regulations state that “In the event the license from the primary jurisdiction is suspended, revoked or allowed to lapse, the holder of a Secondary Client Provider Authorization must, within thirty (30) days, apply for a Client Provider Authorization under these Regulations, failing which the Commission may suspend or revoke the Secondary Client Provider Authorization.
This re-application may have been deemed unnecessary on the basis of the AGCC’s comments to Kahnawake regulators, where it was explained that “[A]lthough the eGambling Licences held by Filco Limited [doing business as Full Tilt Poker] are presently suspended pending the outcome of a hearing, these licences are still considered to be valid.”
As well as a decision on Kolyma, the end of July was also supposed to be the deadline for the renewal of Blanca Games’ primary operating licence in Kahnawake. However, the KGC is yet to issue a statement on the Absolute Poker owner, whose Cereus network has experienced a year-on-year traffic decline of 98% according to the latest figures from Pokerscout. As of mid-July, discussions between the parties were still ongoing.
The KGC has, however, revoked the secondary CPA of a further company, Telton Limited, which had been operating under the GalaxiWorld brand name. The decision was made “Following a Show Cause proceeding conducted by the Commission,” although no further details were provided by the commission.