Tough Guardrails

Jamaica’s first licensed casino operator has received a licence, but not permission to open. Adamas Grand Casino Limited must meet all remaining conditions before it can begin operations at Princess Grand Jamaica Resort in Green Island, Hanover.

The Casino Gaming Commission granted the licence on July 29 and set March 31, 2027, as the deadline for opening. Legal Officer Caleigh Reid said the operator still had to provide required deliverables and satisfy the conditions attached to its licence.

The commission says the controls will begin when players register and continue through its monitoring of casino operations. Operators will have to verify customers, examine suspicious transactions and sources of wealth, maintain anti-money-laundering systems, use surveillance, intervene when gambling becomes harmful and give the regulator direct access to their operations.

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They have a specific time frame in which to open. There are certain deliverables that they have to satisfy us with, certain things that they have to provide us with before they get the go-ahead. Right now they have the licence, but they are not authorised to begin operations until all of those other deliverables are satisfied, which is all outlined in their conditions of licence.

Senior Director of Enforcement and Investigation Damion McKenzie said the commission’s legislation requires ongoing monitoring of money laundering and proceeds from illicit activity. Training for commission officers is intended to help them identify related patterns as the casino sector develops.

The safeguards are designed to address money laundering, organised crime, problem gambling and the exploitation of vulnerable players. The commission presented them as a continuing system of oversight rather than a one-time assessment before the operator opens.

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A part of our legislation requires us to do ongoing monitoring as it relates to money laundering and proceeds from illicit means. We will continue to monitor, but the training that we provided to our officers… allow them to understand the different typologies that are related