The Dominican Republic is moving toward a broader reshaping of its gambling framework, with lawmakers and the executive branch advancing two parallel regulatory tracks at the same time: a merged national bill for gambling and betting, and a separate rulebook for casinos operating on cruise ships. Together, the measures suggest the country is no longer treating gambling oversight as a fragmented issue, but as a matter of taxation, supervision and anti-money laundering control.
On the legislative side, the Senate Finance Committee reported on March 24 that it continued merging two separate initiatives: one on games of chance introduced by Pedro Catrain, and another on betting proposed by Félix Bautista. The committee session was led by Catrain and included Guillermo Lama, Eduard Alexis Espíritusanto, Alexis Victoria Yeb and Ramón Rogelio Genao. According to the Senate, the committee reviewed and approved changes to Articles 34 through 44 of the unified draft.
The Senate has also been explicit about the goals of the merged law. Official summaries say the project is designed to create clearer rules for authorization, supervision and enforcement, secure proper tax collection, protect participants, promote responsible gaming, and prevent fraudulent conduct and money laundering in the sector. Earlier committee work on March 12 described the effort as a push for a more “robust and efficient” legal framework.
At the same time, the Ministry of Finance and Economy has moved ahead with a separate regulatory instrument for cruise ship casinos. The January 20 resolution requires operators to obtain a license for each individual cruise ship, limits the authorization to cruises meeting the official criteria, and requires a performance bond of RD$20 million or its U.S. dollar equivalent before operations begin. The regulation also mandates prior disclosure of internal casino rules to the ministry, including gaming modalities, betting limits, prizes, security controls and sanctions.
The compliance push goes beyond licensing. On February 18, the government announced an agreement between the ministry and FIBA to strengthen anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls in the gambling industry through specialized certification for key actors in the market.
“The Dominican Republic is building a layered gambling framework where legislation, licensing and AML enforcement advance together”.
