Casinos are coming to Bermuda and legislation on how to select locations is now before the House of Assembly. The proposed site selection application process is outlined in The Casino Gaming (Designated Sites) Regulations 2015 section 4. Through the law landowners will be able apply for designation as a site where a casino may be built. The designation itself does not grant a casino license, rather it narrows the field and a designation site order should not be viewed as a casino approval.

Along with the application form a non-refundable $50,000 application fee is required. Once the appropriate minister receives an application he will submit it to the nascent Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission, formed earlier this year. The commission will then consider the merits of the application and advise the minister if an order should be made.

The regulations state that, “The commission’s decision and advice to the minister shall be based on facts and circumstances known at the time the decision is made and may be subject to conditions that the commission deems reasonable in the public interest.

“If a requirement made under this regulation is not complied with, the commission may refuse to consider or further consider the application concerned and may advise the minister to refuse to make a designated site order in respect of the application.”

The gambling commission is headed up by Richard Schuetz, formerly of the California Gambling Control Commission. Mr. Schuetz took the position on September 1, 2015.

Bermuda’s Casino Gaming Act was approved by Parliament in late 2014. Minister of Tourism Development and Transport, Shawn Crockwell announced the creation of a Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission in February this year.