Wakayama IR operator to be decided by fall 2020 Inside Asian Gaming · December 12, 2019 at 7:05 am Wakayama prefecture has announced that if the national basic policy for IR bids is decided in January 2020, it will begin operator recruitment by the spring and select an operator in the fall. The prefecture had previously announced its plan to bid for an IR on the manmade island of Wakayama Marina City with a planned opening in 2024. The government announced a basic policy draft, setting criteria for IR operators, in September, which it will finalize at the beginning of 2020. Once this has been confirmed, the prefecture will immediately publish its implementation policy draft, “around the spring period,” it said.
Saipan: IPI interim chair Mark Brown resigns Ferdie De La Torre, The Saipan Tribune · December 11, 2019 at 7:13 pm Mark A. Brown resigned as interim chairman of Imperial Pacific International (CNMI) LLC effective last Sunday, according to Commonwealth Casino Commission executive director Edward Deleon Guerrero yesterday. His resignation, which comes on the heels of Phillip J. Tydingco’s departure as IPI’s chief legal counsel effective tomorrow, Friday, as as well last month’s Federal Bureau of Investigation’s raids that included IPI’s accounting office, puts into question the company’s capability to finish its casino-resort project in Garapan. IPI’s majority shareholder, Ji Xiaobo, has assured Deleon Guerrero, though, that they can finish the casino-resort project on or before February 2021, which is the extended deadline given to the company by the Lottery Commission.
Over half of English people gambled last year, survey finds Kevin Rawlinson, The Guardian · December 11, 2019 at 7:11 pm Health bosses have raised the alarm about the prevalence of gambling after official figures found more than half of people aged 16 or older in England gambled at some point during 2018. The results are contained in the Health Survey for England 2018, which also showed that millions of people are overweight, drink too much alcohol, eat badly or fail to do enough exercise. The survey showed that 53% of people had gambled in 2018, which included buying a lottery ticket, with 56% of men reporting that they had gambled against 49% of women. While the figures have fallen in recent years, the chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, issued a warning not to infer the problems that gambling present had gone away.
Genting Hong Kong signs Master Services Agreement with KT Lim firm for provision of information technology services Inside Asian Gaming · December 11, 2019 at 7:10 pm Genting Hong Kong has announced the signing of a Master Services Agreement with Resorts World Inc Pte. Ltd (RWI) that will see the latter provide a range of information technology services to Genting HK’s fleet of cruise ships. Under the terms of the agreement, RWI will for a period of two years from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 provide related services and products across a range of areas, including information technology consulting and advisory services; software and hardware design, development and customization services; implementation, installation, configuration, enhancement, system integration, testing, support and maintenance, training and ancillary services; and supply, license and/or sub-license of electronic equipment and software.
NOVOMATIC sells stake in Casinos Austria to SAZKA Lewis, G3 Newswire · December 11, 2019 at 7:08 pm NOVOMATIC AG has agreed to sell its 17.19 per cent stake in Casinos Austria (CASAG) to the Czech-based SAZKA Group, subject to certain conditions precedent including regulatory approvals and rights of other CASAG shareholders. Harald Neumann, NOVOMATIC AG CEO confirmed: “The previous ownership structure has led to no satisfactory development of Casinos Austria. As the smallest major shareholder, we have therefore decided to sell our CASAG shares in order to allow CASAG a clear ownership structure. It is important to enable a stable and sustainable shareholder structure that secures the company in the long term for the future challenges of national and global markets.”
Investor jitters in Japan as regulatory noose starts to tighten Ben Blaschke, Inside Asian Gaming · December 11, 2019 at 6:49 am For so long considered Asian gaming’s next golden goose, could the shine be starting to wear off Japan’s burgeoning integrated resort industry? In the wake of the latest negative headlines to knock circling IR operators down a peg – namely Hokkaido’s decision not to pursue an IR bid for the time being and revelations that the national government may tax the winnings of those playing at its casinos – Inside Asian Gaming has been contacted by a number of investment groups and other industry stakeholders expressing serious jitters over the direction Japan is taking. The message from investors is now loud and clear: there are only so many restrictions Japan can impose before the critical investment v ROI equation becomes untenable.
Canada: Casino customers paying with bank drafts might be hiding dirty money, warns Fintrac Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press · December 11, 2019 at 5:55 am Canada’s anti-money laundering agency is warning casinos to carefully eye customers who pay for their gaming with bank drafts — the latest method of choice for criminals trying to disguise dirty money. The federal Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as Fintrac, says in an operational alert issued today that cash is falling out of favour in illicit casino transactions due to intense media and government scrutiny. Instead, criminals are opting for the liquidity and quasi-anonymity of bank drafts, Fintrac’s recent analysis of suspicious casino-related transactions shows. Professional money launderers are constantly adapting their methods, Fintrac director Nada Semaan said in an interview.
European Commission opens investigations into possible advantages for public casinos operators in Germany CDC Newswire · December 11, 2019 at 5:03 am The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the special tax treatment of public casinos operators in Germany is in line with EU State aid rules. In a separate decision, the Commission has also opened an in-depth investigation into specific measures adopted in North Rhine-Westphalia with regard to the public casinos operator active in that region. In Germany, public casinos operators (Spielbankunternehmen) are subject to a specific tax regime that replaces a series of otherwise applicable general taxes, in particular corporate, income and trade taxes. The Commission has received several complaints from companies active in the gambling sector in relation to certain aspects of this specific tax regime as well as an alleged guarantee for public casinos operators to remain profitable. The formal investigation aims at clarifying whether this specific tax regime entails an unjustified economic advantage for the public casinos operators in the form of a… [continue reading]
Tightened visa restrictions showing negative impact on Macau’s December GGR Inside Asian Gaming · December 10, 2019 at 7:00 pm Sanford C Bernstein analysts have revised down their Macau GGR estimates for December, citing lower hold and tighter visa controls ahead of China President Xi Jinping’s impending visit this month. In a Monday note, analysts Vitaly Umansky, Eunice Lee and Kelsey Zhu said that gross gaming revenue through the first eight days of December was estimated to be MOP$5.7 billion (US$707 million), or MOP$713 million per day – a decline of 16% compared with December 2018 and 6% down on November revenue. As a result, they have revised their December numbers down from a previously estimated decline of between 8% and 11% to a decline of between 12% and 16%.
Canada: Man claims he drank broken glass from beer bottle at Burnaby casino Dustin Godfrey, Burnaby Now · December 10, 2019 at 6:59 pm A Surrey man claims he accidentally drank glass from a broken beer bottle at Burnaby’s Grand Villa Casino. Gurcharan Singh Grewal filed a lawsuit against the casino and its parent company, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment, among other defendants, following an alleged incident in December 2017. According to the lawsuit, Grewal was at the Personas Bar in the Grand Villa Casino and ordered a beer from the bartender. After taking his first sip, he allegedly “felt a sharp object enter his throat, causing much discomfort and internal injuries.” Grewal claimed in his lawsuit that he found a chip in the glass on the rim of the beer bottle “due to the bartender incorrectly opening” it.
