The licensing and regulatory authority in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.
The Kahnawake Gambling Commission (KGC) was founded on June 10, 1996, and has licenced and regulated internet gaming since July 8, 1999. The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake appoints three members to the Commission for two-year terms.
The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory Commission licences and oversees interactive gaming, land-based poker operations, and raffles. Online gambling operators regulated by the Commission must be housed at Mohawk Internet Technologies, a data centre owned by Continent 8 Technologies in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake.
Kahnawake is a Mohawk territory of 20 square kilometres located near Montréal. It is a sovereign nation in its own right.
All kinds of internet gambling, including casinos, poker, sports betting, and bingo, are regulated by the Kahnawake.
The Kahnawake, like most authorities, must evaluate applicants and key people fit for operating an internet gambling firm. Furthermore, software must be tested by Technical Systems Testing, iTech Labs, or Gaming Associates, and yearly audited by eCOGRA, Technical Systems Testing, iTech Labs, or Gaming Associates.
The Kahnawake also collaborates with other jurisdictions, exchanging licensee information and attempting to expedite the regulatory process. They have signed MOUs with Malta (2006) and Gibraltar (2010), and their MOU with Antigua and Barbuda provides for interjurisdictional licencing. The jurisdiction in which the operator’s principal licence is held is in charge of supervising the operator’s actions in both jurisdictions.
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission began permitting internet operators to operate in several jurisdictions without the need for additional licences in February 2015. Operators merely need to show that they have a licence from a main jurisdiction that has been thoroughly inspected.
As a consequence of litigation with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the KGC determined in September 2016 that gaming sites situated in Kahnawake will no longer be permitted to give access to gamers in the United States.
