Non-disclosure Agreements

All documents submitted by a gaming licensee or obtained by the commission in accordance with 205 CMR 139.00 shall be deemed to have been submitted pursuant to a gaming related investigation to ensure compliance with M.G.L. c. 23K and 205 CMR, adherence to the principles articulated in M.G.L. c. 23K, § 1, and/or to ensure the ongoing suitability of gaming licensees in Massachusetts. Accordingly, pursuant to M.G.L. c. 23K, § 21(a)(7) any information or reports, or parts thereof, that are required to be filed or otherwise submitted to or obtained by the commission, the IEB, or their respective agents, in accordance with 205 CMR 139.00 that contain material or information that the gaming licensee considers a trade secret or believes would be detrimental to the gaming licensee if it were made public may be identified as confidential by the gaming licensee. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 23K or 205 CMR 139.00 the gaming licensee may request that the commission enter into a written nondisclosure agreement under the terms of which the commission agrees not to release the specified material or information publicly, in response to a request for public records or otherwise, and will assert the statutory exemption, M.G.L. c. 4, §7(26)(a), and/or any other applicable exemptions, and withhold the applicable materials in response to any request for such record or information. The agreement may provide for coverage for specific materials or information, or categories of materials or information, which will be, or are likely to be, submitted to or obtained by the commission on more than one occasion. A request for a non-disclosure agreement shall be on a form provided by the commission. Upon review of the gaming licensee's request, the commission may execute such an agreement in its discretion. In lieu of withholding a record in its entirety, the gaming licensee and the commission may agree that the material or information be publicly released in a redacted form, an aggregated fashion, or in other agreed upon manner. Nothing contained in 205 CMR 139.02, nor in an executed non-disclosure agreement, shall be construed so as to prevent the commission from making use of any information or material as part of an investigation, disciplinary matter, or otherwise as deemed necessary by the commission.