Singapore casinos fined US$168,000 for breaches

Nov 17, 2014 Newsdesk Latest News, Singapore, Top of the deck  

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Singapore’s two casino resorts have been fined a combined total of SGD217,500 (US$168,000) for various breaches to the city’s Casino Control Act. Infractions included allowing excluded gamblers and minors inside the gaming premises, among others.

The fines are related to cases detected or reported in the first half of last year, except one that took place in September 2012, the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore said on Friday.

Casino resort Marina Bay Sands (pictured), owned and managed by Las Vegas Sands Corp, was fined a total of SGD197,500, according to details disclosed by Singapore’s casino regulator.

The operator was fined SGD75,000 for “permitting an unauthorised person to exercise the functions of a special employee” in September 2012. Reports in Singaporean media say the case relates to a former casino employee who disguised himself and made use of his old staff uniform to enter the casino and steal gaming chips.

The Casino Regulatory Authority imposed several penalties totalling SGD42,500 on Marina Bay Sands for failing to prevent Singapore citizens and permanent residents from entering its casino premises without valid entry levies.

Singapore citizens and permanent residents are required to pay a special levy to enter the city’s two casinos. The entry fee is SGD100 per 24-hour period, or SGD2,000 for a one-year pass.

Marina Bay Sands was also fined US$45,000 for failing to prevent three excluded persons from entering its casino premises. The regulator further imposed fines totalling SGD35,000 on the company for failing to prevent three minors from entering its casino.

Singapore’s other casino resort, Resorts World Sentosa, faced financial penalties totalling SGD20,000, namely for failing to prevent two minors from entering its casino. The property is owned and managed by Genting Singapore Plc, a subsidiary of Malaysian conglomerate Genting group.

Last November, Singapore’s two casinos had been fined more than SGD500,000 for several breaches to the Casino Control Act for cases reported or detected between May 2012 and December 2012. Marina Bay Sands was responsible for most of the breaches.

Separately, Fitch Ratings Inc said in a note on Friday that the credit profiles of the casinos in Singapore are “likely to remain resilient”, even though a decline in international visitor arrivals to the country will see a weakening of gaming growth in Singapore. Longer term however, the Singapore casinos will face increasing regional competition from new casinos in the Philippines, Macau and potentially Japan, the ratings agency added.

The recent “sharp drop” in arrivals from China to Singapore, an important VIP market for the two casinos, reflects the slower economic growth, recent corruption crackdown and credit tightening, Fitch said. But the agency believes “the sharp contraction in revenue from the VIP segment is temporary and that VIP numbers will improve in the latter part of 2015”.

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