The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Gaming Board said on Friday that the Gaming Act does not bar Sebas Bastian and Leslia Miller-Brice from serving in Cabinet, but critics quickly accused the regulator of dodging the question of whether the ministers or their close relatives still hold direct or indirect interests in licensed gaming houses.

The board’s statement, released two weeks after it was originally expected, came amid scrutiny over the appointments of Mr Bastian and Ms Miller-Brice, both of whom have ties to the gaming industry and were sworn in as Cabinet ministers on May 15.

Mr Bastian, the Fort Charlotte MP, was appointed Minister of Innovation and National Development after stepping down earlier this year as chief executive officer of Island Luck. Ms Miller-Brice, the Seabreeze MP, was appointed Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage. Her husband, Leander Brice, reportedly resigned as chief executive officer of GLK Limited, trading as A Sure Win Gaming House Operator, before her appointment.

Questions about their appointments have centred on whether the Gaming Act permits people with gaming industry interests, or close family connections to such interests, to serve in Cabinet.

The board insisted the law does not establish qualifications or disqualifications for Cabinet appointments.

“The Gaming Act does not create any bar or qualification for appointment to the Cabinet,” the board said. “The Act restricts and regulates who may hold the types of licences provided for thereunder, not who may serve in Cabinet.”

The board pointed specifically to Sections 25 and 26 of the Gaming Act, provisions that have become the focus of public debate.

Section 25 says a person may not hold an employment licence under the Act if that person is a Cabinet minister, a member of the Gaming Board, or a spouse, child, parent or sibling of such a person.

Section 26 extends those restrictions to other gaming licences and certain financial interests in gaming licence holders. Among other things, the section prohibits a Cabinet minister, Gaming Board member, or specified family member from holding a financial interest of five percent or more in the holder of certain gaming licences.

According to the Gaming Board, those restrictions apply to the holding of licences and financial interests, not to a person’s eligibility to become a minister.

“Under the Gaming Act, a Cabinet Minister who has a ‘financial interest’ of 5 percent or more in a licence is disqualified from holding such an interes,” the board said. “The Act does not state that such a person is disqualified from being a Cabinet Minister. Rather, it provides that the person is disqualified from holding that financial interest.”

The board said a financial interest includes the right to share in profits or revenue from a gaming operation, as well as direct or indirect ownership of voting shares or voting rights attached to shares in a company that holds a gaming licence.

However, the board said the definition does not extend to all forms of ownership or investment. Excluded are passive interests held through publicly traded companies, ordinary commercial relationships with gaming operators, and investments held through mutual funds or similar arrangements where the investor has no control over investment decisions.

The Gaming Board did not address the affairs of any specific licence holder, citing confidentiality obligations imposed by the Gaming Act.

“The Board is bound by the strict statutory confidentiality provisions contained in the Act and is therefore unable to divulge specific details regarding the internal affairs of its licence holders or records relating to individual licences,” the statement said.

However, Long Island MP Dr Andre Rollins said the board’s statement did not explain how the appointments of Mr Bastian and Ms Miller-Brice were made compliant with the law.

He said the Bahamian people deserve to know how the ministers have treated their financial interests in gaming houses to justify their inclusion in Cabinet.

Dr Rollins said Section 25 disqualifies Cabinet ministers and their specified relatives from holding gaming employment licences, while Section 26 prohibits Cabinet ministers and their specified relatives from holding other categories of gaming licences or a financial interest of five percent or more in the holder of such licences.

He said the rules were designed to protect regulatory integrity and guard against undue influence in an industry vulnerable to money laundering risks.

Dr Rollins said the public has not been told whether Mr Bastian divested himself of shares in Island Luck or whether Ms Miller-Brice’s husband divested himself of shares in A Sure Win.

In his statement, Dr Rollins said: “Therefore, in this environment of non-transparency, we must assume that Mr Bastian still retains his ownership interest in Island Luck.”

He said the situation was “very muddy” and showed the government’s disregard for the public’s right to clear answers.

Dr Rollins also questioned whether the government was relying on an exception in the Gaming Act for certain indirect interests held through funds or investments where the person has no control over investment decisions. He argued that the exception is arguably applicable only to passive investments and not legal trusts, which he said do not necessarily prevent a shareholder from taking an active role in a gaming operator’s decision-making.

Senator Arinthia Komolafe also criticised the board’s response, calling it “an exercise in linguistic gymnastics and declaration of the obvious without addressing the questions raised by the Bahamian people.”

She said Bahamians did not ask the Gaming Board whether the Gaming Act defines who may be appointed to Cabinet, saying Cabinet qualifications are set by the Constitution and should be addressed by the Attorney General or determined by the courts.

Mrs Komolafe said the central question is whether Mr Bastian, Mrs Miller-Brice or their family members have direct or indirect beneficial or financial interests in Island Luck, A Sure Win or any other legally operated gaming house or gaming licensee.

She said this includes ultimate beneficial ownership of any company, trust, foundation or other estate planning vehicle connected to a Gaming Board licensee.

“The press statement issued by the Gaming Board and signed by nobody fails to answer this simple and straightforward question directly,” she said. “Instead, the Gaming Board has chosen to hide behind the shield of confidentiality notwithstanding that this is a matter of significant national interest.”

Mrs Komolafe said the board was not being asked to disclose internal licence-holder records, but to confirm whether the newly appointed ministers and their family members have any direct or indirect beneficial or financial interest in a licensee of the board.

She said if Mr Bastian, Mrs Miller-Brice or their family members hold direct or indirect interests in a company licensed under the Gaming Act, either their ministerial appointments should be revoked or the Gaming Board must revoke the licences of Island Luck, A Sure Win or any other company in which they have an interest.

The Free National Movement has not said whether it would challenge the appointments in court.