Tobique Gaming Commission

The Tobique Gaming Commission (TGC) is the gaming commission of the Tobique First Nation (Neqotkuk) in New Brunswick, Canada, licensing gaming based in its territory, including remote gaming for players within and outside it. Its 3 to 5 members are appointed by the First Nation's Council; applications and licensees are handled by the Management Company and the Direct Licensees the Commission appoints, on whose recommendation licences are granted. The general rules for licence holders and the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) regulations and code date from April 5, 2024; the general rules are reviewed yearly.

The Commission grants a Direct Licensee authorisation and bookmaker, betting intermediary, wagering operator, wagering machine, lottery promoter, pools promoter, gaming software, gaming software aggregator, social gaming and game of skill licences. Each covers any form of remote gambling; the register divides licensees into B2C and B2B. A licence is personal and not transferable and may cover several domains. Approved vendor status goes to payment, hosting, corporate, customer-facing and dispute resolution services, software, platform, e-money and digital currency providers and their aggregators. Casino, P2P games and sports betting require RNG certification, collusion analysis and monitoring of suspicious bets.

A licence takes effect only when the prescribed licence fee is paid in full. Applicants' owners and controllers are verified, and at application and every renewal the Direct Licensee reviews the AML/CTF risk assessment, policies, staff training and employee screening; applicants with related parties on the FATF blacklist are not considered. The register shows each licence's expiry date and type; in exceptional cases a temporary licence of up to 6 months, also for foreign operators, covers the application review, never twice in a row. Player funds sit in a separate bank or electronic money account at 100% plus a margin, and any shortfall is made up within 7 days. A licensee files monthly and quarterly returns and audited annual accounts within 13 months of the end of its accounting period, and keeps transaction records at least 5 years.

Every licensed domain shows the Tobique Shield seal in its footer: it confirms the licence through the Commission's validation system and holds the only complaints link for the licensee, and a public list names sites that claim a TGC licence without it as fraudulent. Operators link the licensee's details with an 18+ notice and a responsible gaming section from the homepage, offering self-exclusion and a deposit limit, loss limit or playtime reminder. Identity is verified by the earliest of 30 days from the first deposit, deposits of €2,000 or the first withdrawal. A B2C licensee runs an AML/CTF programme with board-approved policies under a senior manager, trains staff (75% pass mark, yearly refreshers), has it independently reviewed at least every 2 years and reports suspected money laundering within 5 business days, terrorist financing within 24 hours. B2B licensees check their B2C clients, aggregators their game providers, and suppliers of table games, P2P poker and betting exchanges monitor play in real time. Games are certified by an approved laboratory, disputes older than 2 months go to an approved resolution body, and payment data is encrypted and backed up daily with an approved provider. The Commission or a Direct Licensee approves banking arrangements; company structure changes, data breaches and failures are reported within 24 hours.