The United Kingdom-based firm said in a Wednesday press release that the new product was developed “specifically for large-scale casino environments”. According to the statement, it can “verify thousands of surveillance cameras in minutes, reducing manual effort, strengthening compliance, and accelerating recovery after outages”.

Scene Check is designed automatically to detect “camera failures, misalignment, obstructions, tampering, blur, and focus degradation, generating alerts and reports that direct surveillance teams to cameras that require attention,” noted the company.

That enables operators to maintain “the required field of view across gaming floors, count rooms, cash-handling areas, and other critical locations”.

The company said Scene Check’s global launch followed “a successful deployment at a major integrated casino resort, where the technology has already demonstrated clear operational value”. It did not identify the venue.

David Aindow, chief strategy officer at Synectics, was cited saying the product was designed to address a longstanding operational challenge for casino surveillance teams.

“Camera faults don’t just create surveillance blind spots; they can delay gaming operations, increase compliance exposure, and consume hours of manual effort,” he stated.

Mr Aindow added that, until now, casino surveillance teams have had “little choice but to spend hours manually checking cameras to identify issues” whenever faults occurred.

“Scene Check changes that by automatically identifying those that need attention, allowing teams to focus on resolving problems instead of searching for them,” he noted.

The firm said the new product automates what remains “a highly manual” process in many surveillance operations, helping “casino operators reduce operational risk, strengthen regulatory compliance, and restore gaming operations faster following outages, maintenance, or infrastructure changes”.

Synectics added that Scene Check creates “a fully-auditable record of camera-verification activities, helping casinos demonstrate that surveillance coverage is actively monitored, issues are identified, and corrective actions are taken”.

Such records could be useful for either in-house use or for demonstrating regulatory compliance.

Mr Aindow noted: “As surveillance systems continue to grow in size and complexity, manually verifying camera performance is becoming increasingly impractical.

“Scene Check enables organisations to continuously validate camera readiness, helping them maintain surveillance coverage, strengthen compliance and minimise operational disruption.”

“Konami is the first manufacturer to file across all applicable licence categories,” the supplier said in a Wednesday press release.

Konami Gaming, a unit of Japan’s Konami Group Corp, also stated it was the first supplier to submit applications across all applicable manufacturer licence categories established by that country’s regulator.

Its licensing submissions come as construction continues on Japan’s first IR with casino, MGM Osaka, which is scheduled to open in 2030. The project, led by MGM Resorts International and Japan’s Orix Corp, is currently the country’s only approved casino resort.

In its Wednesday statement, Konami Gaming said its licensing applications reflected the brand’s commitment to participating in Japan’s regulated casino market from its earliest stages.

“Konami’s early filing demonstrates our commitment and readiness to engage constructively with Japan’s regulatory framework from the outset,” stated Lori Olk, senior vice president and chief compliance officer at Konami Gaming.

“We have approached this process with a focus on transparency, preparation, and alignment with the stringent standards established by the JCRC,” she added.

JCRC is responsible for licensing casino operators and suppliers under the country’s IR implementation framework. 

Konami Gaming said it had invested “significant resources” in localisation, documentation and operational planning, to ensure compliance with Japan’s “legal, regulatory and cultural” requirements.

Tom Jingoli, president and chief operating officer of Konami Gaming, said the submission involved a coordinated effort “across multiple business units and jurisdictions”.

“As Japan continues to expand its IR framework, Konami remains focused on supporting regulatory objectives and partnering with stakeholders to deliver compliant, high-quality gaming solutions tailored to the needs of the Japanese market,” he stated.

Mr DiPietro, a 27-year veteran of the FBI, will work with Spectrum Gaming Group’s investigative teams worldwide on “financial crime risk, regulatory compliance, investigations, integrity issues, and emerging threats affecting the gaming industry,” according to the announcement.

Fredric Gushin, president and chief executive of Spectrum Gaming Group, was cited as saying: “Regulators, operators, and policymakers are confronting increasingly sophisticated risks, and Dean’s background will further strengthen Spectrum’s ability to deliver practical, independent guidance to clients around the world.”

The statement noted Mr DiPietro’s appointment came at a time of particular industry challenges relating to “financial crime, illicit finance, cyber-enabled fraud, and regulatory oversight”.

As well as his law-enforcement experience, Mr DiPietro has a master of business administration and a bachelor of science in business administration from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the U.S.

That is according to an update from the Financial Intelligence Office of the city’s Unitary Police Service.

Gaming-sector STRs accounted for 73.3 percent of Macau’s overall 2,753 STRs. The city-wide number of STRs grew 9.5 percent year-on-year, according to the office’s data.

GGRAsia has asked the Financial Intelligence Office for a breakdown on type of gaming-sector STR and reasons for growth of instances.

The gaming sector generated 3,837 suspicious transaction reports in 2024, the most for a 12-month period since record-keeping by the office began in 2006. The 2024 gaming-sector STRs accounted for 73.1 percent of the city-wide total of 5,245 STRs.

Per the Financial Intelligence Office’s 2024 annual report, the most common reasons for STRs had included: gaming chip conversion “without or with gambling activities”; and“irregular large cash withdrawals”.

Also noted as reasons for 2024 STRs were: currency exchanges or “cash conversion”; “significant cash deposit with non-verifiable source of funds”; and “chips conversion/marker redemption/gambling on behalf of third parties”.

The 2025 annual report for the Financial Intelligence Office is yet to be published.

Per local Chinese-language media reports, the latest figures were mentioned during a Tuesday meeting between a community consultative committee and the police, about boosting traveller-throughput at the city’s checkpoints. The busiest of them link directly to Zhuhai in the neighbouring Chinese-mainland province of Guangdong.

The media reports of police commentary did not give the breakdown by origin, of the 20.94 million first-half arrivals this time. Consistently across the whole of last year, 70-percent plus of arrivals have been from the Chinese mainland.

The first six months of each year, mark two major holidays on the Chinese mainland: Chinese New Year in either January or February, and the Labour Day holidays in early May.

The first-half 2026 tally reported by the police suggested the city handled circa 2.80 million visitor arrivals from all source markets in June this time. The city recorded 2.89 million visitor arrivals in June 2025, according to data from Macau’s Statistics and Census Service.

Official statistics for this June and the first six months of 2026 are due to be released later this month.

In the January to May official numbers already issued, Macau had 18.14 million visitor arrivals, up 11.1 percent year-on-year, per GGRAsia’s review of the data. Growth was driven by the same-day visitor cohort.

In the first five months, Macau had 11.25 million same-day visitors, up 17.6-percent year-on-year. The tally of overnight visitors was 6.89 million, up 2.0 percent year-on-year.

That is according to a Tuesday filing to the country’s stock exchange. The firm was responding to a bourse enquiry from May 22 asking how Suntrust Resort would address its negative stockholder equity position as disclosed in its quarterly report for the period ended March 31.

The Manila-listed company has had a role in developing the under-construction main hotel casino at the Westside City complex (pictured in an artist’s rendering) in Manila, the Philippine capital. It reiterated in its Tuesday update that opening of commercial operations at the property is “targeted within the third quarter of 2026”.

In September last year it was announced that Suntrust Resort would take on a minority role in the scheme as it mulled an agreement with Travellers International Hotel Group Inc regarding completion of the Manila complex, which has been described as a US$1.25-billion venture.

In mid-September last year, Travellers International said a total investment of up to US$450 million was still required to complete the Westside City casino resort.

Suntrust Resort’s possible application for accreditation as a “gaming system administrator” under the domestic online gaming licensing framework of the country’s relevant regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), was part of a six-point set of options communicated to the bourse in a Tuesday letter, to address its negative stockholder equity.

In its amended first-quarter unaudited results, published on May 25, Suntrust Resort reported positive net income of just under PHP17.0 million (US$275,400) compared to a net loss of PHP84.3 million in the prior-year quarter. It had a total equity deficit of PHP21.54 billion, roughly unchanged from the prior-year period.

Suntrust Resort told the bourse on Tuesday regarding its stockholder-equity remediation plan: “The company’s relevant project entity is considering applying as a Pagcor-accredited gaming system administrator.”

It added: “The financial impact and definitive timetable of this application is not yet determinable. The company will make the appropriate disclosures to the exchange as developments warrant.”

Stockholder equity plan

Suntrust Resort outlined in an accompanying document filed with the bourse the same day that the negative stockholder equity position was due mainly to factors including “the accumulation of pre-operating, financing, and related costs over the prolonged construction and development phase” of the Westside City complex.

Other factors were: “The classification, for accounting purposes, of the company’s outstanding convertible bonds and advances from related parties as liabilities, pending their conversion or restructuring.”

Suntrust Resort added: “The company expects these conditions to reverse as the [Westside City] project transitions toward completion and commercial operation.”

It added: “The commencement of commercial operations and the corresponding realisation of dividends as a result of operating profits on the company’s indirect interest in the project is expected to contribute materially to the improvement of the company’s financial position over the medium term.”

Other points in its remediation plan, aside from possible online gaming accreditation, included an idea for conversion of outstanding convertible bonds into perpetual convertible bonds.

Also mentioned was an increase in authorised capital stock, and additional equity fundraising, including the introduction of external investors and follow-on or rights offerings.

The company announced on Tuesday that Mr Sueiro, who will be based in the Philippine capital, Manila, will oversee Zitro’s commercial growth strategy across the region.

According to the announcement, Mr Sueiro has “more than 25 years of experience” in the gaming and hospitality sectors, with most of his career spent in Asia. The supplier said he has developed extensive knowledge of the regional market and established long-standing relationships with casino operators.

Before joining Zitro, Mr Sueiro served as chief operating officer at PH Resorts Group Inc, the group behind the stalled Emerald Bay casino project on Cebu, in the Philippines. He had held that role since May 2017. 

Prior to that, he was chief operating officer of Thunderbird Resorts Asia and previously served as vice president for corporate affairs at Thunderbird Resorts, also in the Philippines.

Sebastian Salat, president-international at Zitro, said in prepared remarks that Mr Sueiro’s appointment reflected the company’s ambitions in Asia.

“Zitro’s products are performing strongly in every market where they are present, and Asia is no exception,” Mr Salat stated.

“The appointment of Ángel responds to that momentum: we want to be closer than ever to Asian operators, and the experience and reputation he brings will be key to accelerating our growth and our sales across the region,” Mr Salat added.

The release cited Mr Sueiro saying that joining Zitro represented “an exciting challenge”, describing the company as one recognised for product innovation.

“After more than two decades working in this region, I know what Asian operators expect from a supplier: reliability, innovation, and products that deliver results from day one, and Zitro has all three,” he stated.

“My goal is to make Zitro a reference in every jurisdiction in the region, and I believe we have everything we need to achieve it,” Mr Sueiro added.

The appointment comes as Zitro continues to expand its footprint in Asia, particularly in the Philippines, where the company has been increasing installations of its slot products and cabinets. 

At this year’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2026 in Macau, the supplier showcased its latest product portfolio, including its FANTASY cabinet line, with executives telling GGRAsia the company expected further deployments across Asian gaming markets.

In a statement provided to GGRAsia, Kurt Gissane, chief revenue officer at Aristocrat Gaming, said Asia remained a key strategic market for the company.

“Aristocrat Gaming is pleased to announce that Annie Chan has been promoted to vice president of sales and operations and has been appointed as regional leader for Asia, Mr Gissane said.

“Having built strong relationships with regulators, customers, and partners across APAC over many years, she is well positioned to lead the Aristocrat Gaming team into the future.”

He added: “Asia is an important market for Aristocrat Gaming, and our strategy and commitment to the region is stronger than ever.”

Aristocrat Gaming is the land-based business unit of Australia-listed Aristocrat Leisure Ltd.

According to her professional profile, Ms Chan has worked at Aristocrat Gaming for nearly a decade. She joined the company in October 2016 as director of operations, based in Macau, before being promoted to vice president of sales and operations in June this year.

Prior to joining Aristocrat Gaming, Ms Chan spent about eight years with legacy gaming technology supplier Bally Technologies Inc, serving as operations director for the Asia-Pacific region between 2007 and 2015.

Ms Chan’s appointment follows the departure earlier this year of the firm’s former senior vice president for Asia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Lloyd Robson.

The financial institution stated in its latest note that the casino company remains at the upper end of the speculative-grade category, with a ‘B+/Stable/–’ assessment. Its fresh memo did not constitute a rating action, it added.

It nonetheless viewed NagaCorp as “vulnerable” for business risk, and “intermediate” for financial risk.

According to S&P Global, the company’s key risks include “low visibility on funding strategy for future investments and dividends”. Also mentioned were “limited revenue and geographical diversity,” and “competition from new and existing gaming markets,” including “Malaysia and Macau”.

“Key strengths” for NagaCorp encompassed being a “monopoly gaming operator in Phnom Penh until 2045” at its NagaWorld property (pictured). The monopoly applies for a radius of 200 kilometres (124.3 miles) around the Cambodian capital.

Another strength was operating in a “low‑gaming tax jurisdiction”.

S&P thinks NagaCorp will be “resilient” in its gaming business, but with performance staying below pre-pandemic levels.  

“We project 3 percent to 8 percent growth in adjusted revenue for 2026-2027. The company’s gross gaming revenue [GGR] increased 27 [percent to US$692 million],” added the institution, referring to NagaCorp’s full-year 2025 results, issued in March.

S&P Global also observed: “Revenue is dominated by gaming, with non-gaming revenue accounting for less than 5 percent of total revenue in 2025.

“We believe this high concentration in a volatile gaming sector in an emerging economy heightens Naga’s business risk.”

The ratings house suggested the operation would nonetheless continue to benefit from a “captive domestic market of expatriates” and the gradual recovery of Cambodia’s inbound tourism business.

“We believe growth will continue on increasing flight capacity to and from China,” said S&P Global.

It observed that in 2025, mass-market play had powered growth, with segmental revenue rising 23 percent to US$485 million.

S&P Global noted that NagaCorp’s reported revenue and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2025 were “only 41 percent and 60 percent of 2019 levels,” respectively.

It stated: “This was due to the elimination of the referral VIP segment, primarily junkets. Junkets accounted for about 70 percent of Naga’s gross gaming revenue in 2019 and are unlikely to return.” That would “weigh on the company’s business strength,” the institution added.

“China’s crackdown” on junket activity “has reduced contributions from the referral VIP segment, which previously drove a significant part of the company’s business,” it added.

Disciplined spending

Though S&P Global asserted that NagaCorp’s “healthy balance sheet” provided a “downside cushion”.

It said the casino group had been managing cash flow by limiting dividends and capital expenditure (capex) since 2022, “keeping leverage low while building a sizeable cash balance”. NagaCorp had also paid off a US$70-million shareholder loan in May 2026.

“We forecast a ratio of debt to EBITDA of around 0.3 times for 2026-2027,” said the ratings agency.

S&P Global stated, referring to a paused extension for NagaWorld: “The company is still reassessing the scale of its Naga 3 project against the current business environment. We expect it to resume expenditure on the project in 2027. Termination of a shareholder funding agreement for Naga 3 in December 2025 also means Naga may rescale the US$3.5-billion project.”

S&P Global suggested that – depending on the revised investment amount – the company could fund Naga 3 “mainly with internal cash flow or via external markets”.

It observed NagaCorp had resumed dividends in 2025 at a 30 percent payout ratio.

“We expect the company to gradually increase shareholder returns toward historical levels of 60 percent,” the ratings house stated.

It suggested NagaCorp’s 2026 capex could be “about US$170 million in 2026, before an increase to about US$380 million in 2027 for Naga 3, amid annual shareholder returns of US$100 million to US$120 million”.

If NagaCorp were to accelerate Naga 3 capex or pursue “large-scale investments amid aggressive shareholder distributions that erode its cash balance, its credit quality could sharply deteriorate,” S&P Global observed.

The institution also noted of NagaCorp, in terms of resilience to any further external shocks: “The company lacks strong relationships with a diversified group of lenders, including global banks, and we believe it is unable to absorb high-impact, low-probability events without the need to refinance.”

Mr Miller noted that the “American blueprint for gaming” is “increasingly… something that countries look to and say ‘We’d like to do that’.”

His remarks were made during an oral history interview published by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Gaming Law Journal.

In terms of the “American blueprint,” Mr Miller suggested “Macau is a great example”.

The AGA head said that meant resorts that were not exclusively about gambling, but part of the “fun economy, part of the sports gaming, entertainment economy”. Though in Macau’s case, sports betting is not permitted in casinos and is a monopoly concession under Macau Slot Co Ltd.

Under the integrated resort model, customers “don’t have to be gamblers,” Mr Miller stated.

He added: “ They just want to have a good meal, or they want to go to a nice club or shopping venues.”

Three of Macau’s six casino concessionaires have U.S.-based parent companies. All six concessionaires now offer non-gaming attractions including concerts and shows, shopping, fine dining, and other leisure activities. Nonetheless, half the Macau operators have specifically Las Vegas roots.

They are: Las Vegas Sands Corp, controller of Sands China Ltd; MGM Resorts International, majority owner of MGM China Holdings Ltd; and Wynn Resorts Ltd for Wynn Macau Ltd.

A fourth Macau operator, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd, is listed on Nasdaq in the U.S., and also has U.S.-based minority partners in the Studio City casino resort in Macau’s Cotai district.

The AGA chief also mentioned Singapore’s casino duopoly – consisting of Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands and Genting Singapore Ltd’s Resorts World Sentosa – as another example of the “American blueprint”.

UAE, Japan, prediction markets

Mr Miller additionally referred to the US$5.1-billion Wynn Al Marjan Island project in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in which Wynn Resorts has a 40 percent equity stake. The property is due to launch in 2027.

The AGA head said: “What’s happening in the UAE with Wynn, and what they’re doing in Ras Al Khaimah, it’s going to be the first major casino in the Middle East.”

“This is incredible movement and acceptance by huge and sometimes new countries and elements because we’ve proved” the value of the Las Vegas-style resort model, he asserted.

The AGA CEO also mentioned the JPY1.51-trillion (US$9.33-billion currently) MGM Osaka casino resort, involving MGM Resorts and set to open in 2030.

Mr Miller said MGM Osaka will be “the first major commercial casino that’s happened in Japan”.

“So, I think that we [the American blueprint] are absolutely part of the fun economy, part of the sports gaming, entertainment economy,” he added.

The AGA trade body is a co-organiser of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia casino-sector trade show and conference held annually in Macau, as well as representing the interests of the licensed gaming sector in the United States.

The AGA boss had mentioned the upside of new resort projects across Asia, in a speech during this year’s G2E Asia in May.

Mr Miller nonetheless drew attention in his comments to the UNLV Gaming Law Journal, to the issue of prediction markets, which have grown rapidly, particularly in the United States, and offer prediction products in a wide variety of categories, including sporting outcomes. Prediction-markets brands are currently classed and regulated as financial products by the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission, rather than as gaming products.

Mr Miller said: “We shouldn’t have the federal government being in the sports betting business.” Licensed online sports betting is regulated by individual states in the U.S.

Asked about the “most pressing legal issue” facing the AGA, he stated: “Clearly the prediction markets. This is something that takes probably 70 percent of my day.”

“Our job is to understand, defend, protect and advance the interests” of the licensed gaming industry, he added.

Mr Miller added: “The common thematic is that people that don’t want to be licensed, people that don’t want to pay taxes, the people that don’t want to abide by the consumer protections and money laundering protocols that our legal, regulated industry do – that’s pretty much job one.

“There’s a never-ending stream of people that want to be in the gaming industry, but don’t want to abide by the rules or quite frankly, they couldn’t pass muster in background investigations.”