Prospects for a Regulated Online Marketplace (Bahamas)

1) Starting point: what works today

The basic frame is Gaming Act 2014 and Gaming Regulations 2014. They only allow "narrow" online formats for casino ground license holders: restricted interactive, mobile and proxy. The applicant for such licenses can only be an operator with a valid gaming license in the country.

At the same time, the domestic segment - gaming houses/web-shops (online transactions for residents with offline KYC, own reporting and tax formula) is legalized and tightly rationed.

Bottom line: there is no universal. "bs e-gaming" license for independent online casinos; Internet products work only as an add-on over a land-based casino or as part of web-shops.

2) Signals to possible changes

The authorities discussed the adjustment of certain access rules (admission of residents to land casinos), which indicates readiness for targeted reforms in the sector. In 2023, the topic was publicly raised by the leadership of the Gaming Board and the government. Although this is not about online directly, the very course towards revising the rules is an important marker for the industry.

Strengthening AML/CFT infrastructure: In 2025, the Gaming Board and Financial Intelligence Unit signed a MoU on data sharing. Such integration is a prerequisite for any extended e-model (transaction traceability, monitoring and sanctions are required).

3) What could push the Bahamas into the e-market

1. Tourist destination economy: online vertical (with the right restrictions) strengthens guest retention before/after the visit, supports MICE/event peaks and sportsbook activation (Baha Mar Sportsbook by William Hill is already offline).

2. Digital payments and KYC maturity: the country is actively developing the fintech environment and regulatory control is the basic "safety technique" for e-gaming.

3. Regional competition: Caribbean destinations gradually scale "omnichannel" entertainment; in order to maintain the share of the tourist's wallet, online add-ons become a competitive factor (inference based on the open bars of Baha Mar/Atlantis and their sports book ecosystem).

4) Realistic legalization models (if they politically decide to "go online")

Model A. Extension of existing "narrow" scheme

Maintain the requirement "online product only with the ground license holder," but expand the list of permitted services (poker, e-table, wider sports book with a mobile channel), a single standard for remote verification and limits.

Pros: Manageability, quick launch through current operators. Cons: low competition, limited coverage.

Legal support: already existing restricted interactive/mobile/proxy and regulatory procedures.

Model B. Limited "remote operators" under Bahamian license

Introduce a separate type of remote license with strict requirements for hosting, KYC/AML, responsible gaming, local representation and taxes, a possible connection with tourism marketing.

Pros: inflow of investments, diversification of income. Cons: more complex supervision, reputation risks with weak selection.

New provisions to Act/Regulations will be required (currently there is no general e-license).

Model C. Evolution of the domestic segment (web-shops)

Clarify the product line and technical standards of web-shops, strengthen independent testing of RNG/providers, unify limits and self-exclusion with the registry.

Pros: improving consumer protection where there is already demand. Cons: this is not an "export" online vertical, the effect on tourism is limited.

5) "Red zones," without which online reform will not take off

Compliance and identification: mandatory multi-level KYC, sources of funds (SoF/SoW), tracking transactions and threshold "triggers" - in conjunction with FIU/regulator. (Movement has already begun - see MoU 2025.)

Responsible play: a centralized register of self-exclusion, covering both terrestrial and online licensees; requirements for advertising practices; deposit/loss limits. The skeleton of such norms is contained in the current acts/rules, but they need to be specified for online.

Taxes and fees: preserving the logic of "game tax + separate mode for interactive" (Regulations has a chapter on tax periods for interactive/mobile/proxy) and understandable rates for a predictable model.

Test labs and platform requirements: software/hard certification, event logging, data storage on the territory/in approved clouds, mandatory independent audits. (Some of the approaches are already laid down in the by-laws of 2014-2015)

6) Probabilities and timing: cautious forecast

As of October 11, 2025, the legal reality is that there is no general online license; there are "narrow" channels for land-based casinos and independent web-shops. Direct government announcements about the launch of a full-fledged e-market have not yet been published.

Nevertheless, the combination of discussions on sector modernization (including offline access for residents) and the strengthening of the regulator's AML link with FIU create institutional prerequisites for discussing the online format. The most realistic first step is to expand the current "narrow" scheme for current resort operators (Baha Mar, Atlantis) with the unification of remote KYC and limits.

7) What to do business and content authors now

Resort operators/partners: prepare a "compliance package" for remote verification, payment rails, logging and integration with responsible gaming - all this will be required for any expansion of restricted interactive.

Web-shops: focus on high-quality KYC/AML and software transparency - this will help with the possible unification of standards.

Authors/media: correctly describe the current status: no general e-license; online in the Bahamas today is an addition to the land-based casino and domestic segment. For examples of the current "online" with the tourist part, indicate Sportsbook Baha Mar as an offline anchor with a mobile/interactive add-on.

There is no regulated common online market in the Bahamas yet - only "narrow" licenses for land-based casinos and a separate domestic segment of web-shops. But the country has a compliance base, experience of integrated resorts and a growing link between the regulator and financial intelligence - all this makes a phased evolution (first expanding the current model, then carefully assuming remote operators) more realistic than a "big bang." In the meantime, the correct wording for the content remains the same: online in the Bahamas is a limited add-on to offline, not an independent market.

• Gaming Act 2014 (consolidated text) and Gaming Regulations 2014 - legal framework, including for restricted interactive/mobile/proxy.
• Gaming House Operator Regulations 2014 - domestic segment (web-shops): licenses, reporting, operations.
• The Gaming & Casinos state page is the goal of modernizing the 2014 framework (to regulate the previously unregulated domestic sector).
• 2023 Public Statements on Possible Adjustment of Resident Casino Access Rules.
• MoU 2025 between Gaming Board and FIU - strengthening AML circuits (a key prerequisite for the e-market).
• Baha Mar Sportsbook by William Hill is a working example of a sports vertical in a resort ecosystem.