2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 32 - Sports and Parks
Chapter 21 - Virgin Islands Casino and Resort Control Act of 1995
Article VII - Conditions of Operations
§ 463. Casino licensee — Leases and contracts
(a)
(1) Unless otherwise provided in this subsection, no agreement which provides for the payment, however defined, of any direct or indirect interest, percentage or share of any money or property gambled at a casino or derived from casino gaming activity or of any such interest, percentage, or share of any revenues, profits or earnings of a casino shall be lawful.
(2) Agreements which provide only for the payment of a fixed sum which is in no way affected by the amount of any such money, property, revenues, profits or earnings shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection; and receipts, rentals or charges for real property, personal property or services shall not lose their character as payments of a fixed sum because of contract, lease, or license provisions for adjustments in charges, rentals or fees on account of changes in taxes or assessments, cost-of-living index escalations, expansion or improvement of facilities, or changes in services supplied.
(3) Agreements between a casino licensee and its employees which provide for casino employee or casino key employee profit sharing and which are in writing and have been filed with the Commission shall be lawful and effective only if expressly approved as to their terms by the Commission.
(4) Agreements to lease an approved hotel building or the land thereunder and agreements for the complete management of a casino shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection but shall rather be subject to the provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of section 434 of this title.
(5) Agreements which provide for percentage charges between the casino licensee and a holding company or intermediary company of the casino licensee shall be in writing and filed with the Commission but shall not be subject to the provisions of this subsection.
(6) Agreements which provide only for the payment of a fixed sum which is based upon the number of times a slot machine or a specified game feature of such slot machine is utilized shall not be subject to the provision of this subdivision.
(7) Agreements which provide only for the payment of a fixed sum which is based upon the outcome or an event which occurs as part of an authorized game hall not be subject to the provisions of this subdivision.
(b) Each casino applicant or licensee shall maintain, in accordance with the rules of the Commission, a record of each written or unwritten agreement regarding the realty, construction, maintenance, or business of a proposed or existing casino hotel or related facility. The foregoing obligation shall apply regardless of whether the casino applicant or licensee is a party to the agreement. Any such agreement may be reviewed by the Commission on the basis of the reasonableness of its terms, including the terms of compensation, and of the qualifications of the owners, officers, employees and directors of any enterprise involved in the agreement, which qualifications shall be reviewed according to the standards enumerated in section 438 of this title. If the Commission disapproves such an agreement or the owners, officers, employees or directors of any enterprise involved therein, the Commission may require its termination.
- Every agreement required to be maintained, and every related agreement the performance of which is dependent upon the performance of any such agreement, shall be deemed to include a provision to the effect that, if the Commission shall require termination of an agreement pursuant to this subsection, such termination shall occur without liability on the part of the casino applicant or licensee or any qualified party to the agreement or any related agreement. Failure expressly to include such a provision in the agreement shall not constitute a defense in any action brought to terminate the agreement. If the agreement is not maintained or presented to the Commission in accordance with Commission regulations, or the disapproved agreement is not terminated, the Commission may pursue any remedy or combination of remedies provided in this chapter.
- For the purposes of this subsection, “casino applicant” includes any person required to hold a casino license pursuant to section 434 who has applied to the Commission for a casino license or any approval required under this chapter.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to permit the transfer of any license, or any interest in any license, or any certificate of compliance or any commitment or reservation.
