N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9 § 5108.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 5108.1 - Video lottery gaming agent's organization

(a) Each video lottery gaming agent shall organize their video lottery gaming operation in such a manner that all financial records are separate and distinct from all financial records relative to their other business operations.

(b) Each video lottery gaming agent's system of internal controls shall include tables of organization. Each video lottery gaming agent shall, except as otherwise provided in this section, tailor such agent's organizational structure to meet the needs or policies of such agent's particular management philosophy. The proposed organizational structure of each video lottery gaming agent shall be approved in writing by the commission in the absence of a conflict between the organizational structure and the criteria listed below, which criteria are designed to maintain the integrity of video lottery gaming operations. Each video lottery gaming agent's tables of organization shall provide for:

(1) a system of personnel and chain of command that permits management and supervisory personnel to be held accountable for actions or omissions within their areas of responsibility;

(2) the segregation of incompatible functions so that no employee is in a position both to commit an error or to perpetrate a fraud and to conceal the error or fraud in the normal course of such employee's duties;

(3) primary and secondary supervisory positions that permit the authorization or supervision of necessary transactions at all relevant times; and

(4) areas of responsibility that are not so extensive as to be impractical for one person to monitor.

(c) In addition to satisfying the requirements of subdivision (b) of this section, each video lottery gaming agent's system of internal controls shall include, at a minimum, the following departments and supervisory positions. Each of the departments and supervisors required or authorized by this section (a "mandatory" department or supervisor) shall cooperate with, yet perform independently of, all other mandatory departments and supervisors of the video lottery gaming agent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a department or supervisor of a video lottery gaming agent that is not required or authorized by this section may operate under or in conjunction with a mandatory department or supervisor unless the commission subsequently disapproves such operation as being inconsistent with the standards in subdivision (b) of this section. Mandatory departments and supervisory positions are as follows:

(1) The director of surveillance shall supervise the surveillance department. The director of surveillance shall report to the facility manager of the video lottery gaming facility, the chief operating officer, or another officer as determined by the agent and approved by the commission and be free to make reports directly to the video lottery gaming agent's principals, members and board of directors. The surveillance department shall be responsible for, without limitation, the following:

(i) the clandestine surveillance of the operation and conduct of the video lottery gaming and bill acceptors;

(ii) the clandestine surveillance of the operation of the cashiers' cage and satellite cages;

(iii) the audio-video recording of activities in the count rooms;

(iv) the detection of cheating, theft, embezzlement, and other illegal activities in the video lottery gaming facility, count rooms, and cashiers' cages;

(v) the detection of the presence in the video lottery gaming facility of any person who is excluded or ejected;

(vi) the video recording of illegal and unusual activities monitored;

(vii) providing mandatory immediate notification to appropriate supervisors and the commission and the commission's designee upon detecting, and also upon commencing video or audio recording of, any person who is engaging in or attempting to engage in, or who is reasonably suspected of cheating, theft, embezzlement, or other illegal activities;

(viii) providing mandatory immediate notification to appropriate supervisors and the commission and the commission's designee upon detecting, and also upon commencing video or audio recording of, any person who is excluded or ejected;

(ix) pursuant to and in addition to subparagraphs (vii) and (viii) of this paragraph, a daily report of these events shall be transmitted to the commission or the commission's designee.

(2) A video lottery games department supervised by a person referred to herein as a video lottery gaming manager. The video lottery games department shall be responsible for the operation of the video lottery gaming facility, including the conduct of all authorized games and bill acceptors in the facility.

(3) A security department is supervised by a person referred to herein as a director of security. The security department shall be responsible for the overall security of the video lottery gaming facility including, without limitation, the following:

(i) the physical safety of patrons in the video lottery gaming facility;

(ii) the physical safety of personnel employed at the video lottery gaming facility;

(iii) the physical safeguarding of assets transported to and from the video lottery gaming facility and cashiers' cage departments;

(iv) the protection of the patrons' and the video lottery gaming facility's property from illegal activity;

(v) the detainment of each individual as to whom there is probable cause to believe that he or she has engaged in or is engaging in conduct that violates the act or these regulations inclusive, for the purpose of notifying appropriate law enforcement authorities;

(vi) the control and maintenance of a system for the issuance of temporary employee license credentials and vendor access credentials;

(vii) the recordation and immediate notification to appropriate supervisors and the commission and the commission's designee of any and all unusual occurrences within the video lottery gaming facility for which the assignment of a security department employee is made. Each incident, without regard to materiality, shall be assigned a sequential number and, at a minimum, the following information shall be recorded in an electronic file that prohibits or tracks any changes or in indelible ink in a bound, laboratory-type notebook from which pages cannot be removed and each side of each page of which is sequentially numbered:

(a) the assignment number;

(b) the date;

(c) the time;

(d) the nature of the incident;

(e) the name of the person involved in the incident, and if applicable, their employee license number;

(f) the name and employee license number of the security department employee assigned; and

(g) the identification of any person who is removed, excluded or ejected.

(4) A video lottery gaming accounting department supervised by a person referred to herein as a controller. The controller shall be responsible for all video lottery gaming facility accounting control functions including, without limitation, the preparation and control of records and data, the control of stored data, the control of unused forms, the accounting for and comparison of operational data and forms, and the control and supervision of the cashiers' cage, any satellite cages and the count room.

(5) The video lottery gaming agents are required to submit to the commission a written plan stating the manner in which they will ensure compliance with the commission's internal control guidelines and those internal control procedures submitted by the agent to the commission. This plan may include the creation of an internal audit department or the hiring of a qualified provider of internal audit services (e.g., a certified public accounting firm or other consulting firm) or a combination of these measures. This plan should be approved in writing by the commission prior to start up and any changes in the plan should be submitted to the commission for approval.

(6) The count room shall each be supervised by a video lottery gaming key employee, who shall be responsible for the supervision of the count.

(7) A video lottery gaming agent that operates video lottery gaming in more than one room of the video lottery gaming facility may be required to maintain a separate cashiers' cage in each room. Each cashiers' cage shall be supervised by a video lottery gaming key employee referred to herein as a cage supervisor. The cage supervisor shall directly report to the controller or to another supervisor as approved by the commission and shall be responsible for the control and supervision of cage cashiers, clerks and the cage functions. If a video lottery gaming agent elects to operate one or more satellite cages, each satellite cage shall be supervised by a video lottery gaming key employee in accordance with a supervisory structure approved in writing by the commission and consistent with these regulations.

(d) The video lottery gaming agent's personnel shall be trained in all internal control and accounting practices and procedures relevant to each employee's individual function. Special instructional programs shall be developed by the video lottery gaming agent in addition to any on-the-job instruction sufficient to enable all members of the departments required by this section to be thoroughly conversant and knowledgeable with the appropriate and required manner of performing of all transactions relating to their functions.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of the commission's regulations to the contrary, a video lottery gaming agent may designate and assign more than one person to serve jointly as the manager of a department so long as each person assigned has been licensed as a key employee and such assignment does not undermine the purpose of the internal control procedures. Each person serving as a joint manager of a department shall be individually and jointly accountable and responsible for the operations of that department.

(f) Each department required or authorized by this section shall be supervised at all times by at least one video lottery gaming key employee; provided, however, that the commission may, upon request by a video lottery gaming agent, exempt the internal audit department or the MIS department from this requirement.

(g) The surveillance department shall be separate from all other departments of the video lottery gaming facility. To protect the confidentiality of surveillance system capabilities, access and admittance to the surveillance areas shall be limited to surveillance department personnel, the general manager of the facility, and any other person approved by the commission.

(h) In the event of a vacancy in the chief operating officer position or in any department supervisor position required by this section:

(1) The video lottery gaming agent shall notify the commission thereof no later than five days from the date of vacancy. Such notice shall be in writing and shall indicate, without limitation, the following information:

(i) the title of the vacant position;

(ii) the date on which the position became vacant; and

(iii) the date on which it is anticipated that the vacancy will be filled on a permanent basis.

(2) The video lottery gaming agent shall designate a person to assume the duties and responsibilities of the vacant position no later than 30 days from the date of vacancy. Such person may assume the duties and responsibilities of the vacant position on a temporary basis, provided that:

(i) such person does not function as the department supervisor for any department required by this section;

(ii) such person's areas of responsibility will not be so extensive as to be impractical for one person to monitor;

(iii) such person is appropriately and adequately licensed; and

(iv) such position shall be filled on a permanent basis within 120 days of the original date of vacancy.

(3) Within five days of filling any vacancy as set forth in this subdivision, the video lottery gaming agent shall notify the commission thereof. Such notice shall be in writing and shall indicate, without limitation, the following:

(i) the position;

(ii) the name of the person designated;

(iii) the date that the vacancy was filled; and

(iv) an indication of whether the position has been filled on a temporary or permanent basis.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 5108.1