By Doug Ashbury An Ontario court decision has helped pave the way for Gaming Lottery Corp., currently based in Toronto, to finalise its move to Bermuda, the company said.

Gaming Lottery, which makes and markets lottery, bingo and other gaming tickets, was required by Ontario court, general division, to post a $5 million bond in connection with a lawsuit with Switzerland's Bank Leu.

The company was awaiting the Thursday decision, one it may appeal, before finalising its continuance to Bermuda.

Gaming Lottery, with Canadian and US subsidiaries, expects to set up offices in Bermuda next month.

Though Gaming Lottery said it is now clear to move to the Island, the company has obtained Bermuda regulatory approval, the lawsuit which precipitated posting the $5 million security could take three to five years to resolve, company president and CEO Jack Banks said yesterday.

At the heart of the disagreement are 2.5 million Gaming Lottery shares.

Bank Leu said it owns the shares while Gaming Lottery said the shares were not paid for.

The bank is suing because it wants to sell the shares.

Bank Leu is an indirect, majority-owned subsidiary of CS Holding, the diversified Swiss-based holding company, that also owns Credit Suisse, the second largest bank in Switzerland.

Initially, the shares were issued to a financial firm to be held in trust by a British Columbia credit union, Mr. Banks said.

Mr. Banks said that the share certificates "made it clear'' that these shares could not be transferred.

But an individual obtained the shares from the investment firm and used the shares as collateral to secure a $5 million loan from Bank Leu, he said.

In January, 1995, the individual, alleged to have swindled $5 million from Bank Leu, disappeared, Mr. Banks said.

In May of this year, the matter was turned over to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

"We believe that this transaction may be another example of Bank Leu's involvement in a suspect deal,'' Gaming Lottery executive vice president Larry Weltman told Bloomberg Business News on Friday.

Gaming Lottery's shares are listed on the NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE).

The company gave a full outline of the matter on the Internet about three weeks ago. At that time shares were trading around $3 (Cdn) on the TSE.

Since then, the stock has advanced 75 percent.

Gaming Lottery traded at $5.20 in midday action yesterday on the TSE.

The company has several plants in the US and one in Canada and last year made $8 million on revenues of $45 million.

The company also said that although Thursday's "court decision did not include any findings of fact relating to the central issues surrounding this case, the court did acknowledge that the company's arguments may be found at trial to disqualify Bank Leu as a holder in due course of the Gaming Lottery shares.'' GAMBLING GAM