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Singapore's government is likely to require casino operators Las Vegas Sands and Genting Singapore to exchange the personal data of gamblers to combat the risk of money laundering, according to draft legislative amendments.
A large tranche of to the Casino Control Act 2006 (CCA) was introduced in parliament on Tuesday (August 6), with the Ministry of Home Affairs saying the changes will enhance and tighten regulatory effectiveness and strengthen protection for the vulnerable.
The most sensitive of the changes is mandated gambler personal data transfer between Singapore鈥檚 two integrated resort (IR) operators, which will require a widened suspension of the Personal Data Protection Act and the bypassing of both Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) mediation of data sharing and consent of gamblers.聽聽聽
鈥淪uch information sharing might be necessary for COs [casino operators] to assess money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing risks associated with the patron,鈥 the ministry said.
鈥淭oday, GRA facilitates the exchange of such information between the COs, but this is operationally inefficient and impedes COs from taking timely action.
鈥淭o address this, the Bill amends the CCA to allow and require the COs to share information of patrons with each other, for the purposes of tackling money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. This would allow the COs to take quicker action on their end,鈥 it said.
The ministry said the amendments include three pre-emptive, 鈥渇uture-proofing鈥 measures to regulate betting and lotteries in casinos; approve gaming software on mobile devices; and expand the definition of gambling chips to include 鈥渁ny instrument or thing鈥, so that virtual tokens or wagering instruments can be used if regulators 鈥渁ssess them to be suitable鈥.
But the changes also include streamlining measures that will decrease operator, manufacturer and supplier red tape.
鈥淭he Bill will update and streamline the process to only require manufacturers that have control over how gaming machines are designed and manufactured to seek approval [from the GRA],鈥 according to the statement.
Similarly, the government anticipates that corporations associated with a casino operator will no longer be subject to GRA approval if they 鈥渄o not exercise influence or control鈥 over the operator.
Minor structural changes in government include allowing the GRA鈥檚 independent evaluation panel to speculate on 鈥渇uture industry standards and market demand鈥 in assessing IR performance.
Regulatory amendments include adding offences of withdrawing bets when game results are known, recording non-table-game play (slot machines, for example) to cheat casinos, and closing culpability gaps for excluded gamblers on the casino floor and document falsification by casino staff.
The draft amendments also tweak casino operator suitability and disciplinary criteria to expand the GRA鈥檚 investigative powers.
Among other changes are criminalisation of any breaches of family visit limits for casinos, thereby closing a loophole among exclusion orders, and allowing the National Council on Problem Gambling to instantly change a gambler鈥檚 exclusion order to a visit limit or vice versa, ending weeks of administrative delays that place gamblers in potential danger.
Finally, the ministry acknowledged that it overlooked the sunset clause on a 2019 order that increased casino entry levies, resulting in a reversion to lower charges for four weeks in April and May this year.
That money was recouped by the government when it issued a casino control order in May, and a new amendment would 鈥渞egularise鈥 that revenue.
鈥淲e have tightened our processes to avoid a repeat of such an incident,鈥 the ministry said.
The amendments introduced on Tuesday are the most significant set of changes in gambling legislation in Singapore since the streamlining of regulation in 2022.
