Abinader Completes Dominican Gambling Council That Must Set Online Licence Terms
By Antonina Tupikova · Founder, iGaming Times2 min read
A former electoral board president, a former bank superintendent and a former telecoms regulator chief fill the three seats the president controls on the Consejo de Juegos de Azar. The council holds the licensing power under Law 86-26, and it has yet to hold its first session.
- President Luis Abinader appointed Julio César Castaños Guzmán, José Julio Antonio de la Altagracia Cross Frías and José Delio Ares Guzmán to the Consejo de Juegos de Azar by Decree 810-26, dated 11 November
- The three take the seats Article 9 of Law 86-26 reserves for presidential nominees, beside six ex officio members chaired by the minister of finance and economy
- The council licenses operators, sets fees and must approve the internal structure of the Dirección General de Juegos de Azar (DGJA), which replaced the ministry's old Dirección de Casinos y Juegos de Azar
- The regulator said on 3 November that the council had not held its first session, which left terms for new online licences pending
- Interim director general Quico Tabar, who sits on the council as its non-voting secretary, has so far regulated through the DGJA's own resolutions
The Presidency Fills Its Three Seats on the Council
Abinader signed Decree 810-26 on Wednesday 11 November, and the presidency announced it that evening. It names three members of the Consejo de Juegos de Azar under Article 9(8) of Law 86-26, the gambling law of the Dominican Republic, and says the council's membership had to be completed for it to exercise its powers, including the supervision of the DGJA that Article 185 requires during the transition.
Castaños Guzmán, a lawyer, presided over the Junta Central Electoral from 2006 to 2010 and from 2016 to 2020, El Dinero reported, and has been a Supreme Court judge, according to Diario Libre. Cross Frías is a former superintendent of banks, who handled the 2003 crisis in which three banks failed, and of electricity, both outlets reported. Ares Guzmán, an electrical engineer, was executive director of the telecoms regulator INDOTEL and now runs Empresas Ares, according to Diario Libre.
A Supervisory Body With the Licensing Power
Article 8 makes the council the "autoridad normativa y supervisora" of the DGJA. Article 9 seats the minister of finance and economy as chair, the ministers of tourism and of the interior, the heads of INDOTEL, the tax authority (DGII) and the government technology office (OGTIC), and the three nominees. The DGJA's director general is secretary, with a voice but no vote.
Under Article 14, the council issues rules by resolution, grants or refuses licences and changes of control, sets fees, decides revocations, approves software standards and the DGJA's internal structure, and reviews its budget. Article 11 has it meet monthly. Article 95 reserves online licences to the council, and Article 97 leaves their fees and conditions to a council resolution.
The Council Holds the Power the Interim Regulator Has Been Using
Since October the DGJA has acted alone. Under Tabar it issued Resolutions 01-2026 and 02-2026 on 13 October, which banned new lottery shops, and the regulator published Resolution 03-2026 on 10 November, a transitional procedure for changes of owner, name or address of lottery shops, sports betting shops and bingo halls. Article 14 gives rule-making to the council, but Article 185 gives every decision taken in the transition full legal validity, so the council inherits those rules rather than writing the first ones. Until it sits, the law's balance between an executive director and a collegiate board exists only on paper.
The Appointees' Records Fit the Law's Enforcement Tools
Article 79 arms the DGJA against unlicensed online operators with domain blocking through INDOTEL and orders to payment firms. A former INDOTEL chief and a former bank superintendent know both systems, and the DGJA counts about 81 unauthorised online operators. The law sets no qualifications, terms or conflict rules for the three nominees, unlike the director general, whom Article 17 bars from links with gambling businesses in the previous five years. The nominees hold three of nine votes, and the chair has the casting vote.
The Clock on the Council Is Already Running
Article 194 gives the council 120 days from the law's entry into force on 2 October to issue the DGJA's internal rules and structure, which points to about 30 January 2027. Article 190 then gives it 90 days, after the 12-month registration window, to publish the register that starts the ten-year freeze on new licences. Neither the presidency nor the DGJA has announced a first session.
The decree gives the Dominican Republic's gambling regulator the board the law designed to govern it, staffed with people who know banking and telecoms regulation. What matters now is whether that board meets promptly and issues the online licensing terms, or leaves the interim director to keep regulating alone.
