Singapore’s Casino Control (Amendment) Bill had a first reading on Tuesday in the city-state’s parliament. The original Casino Control Act came into force in 2006, before any casinos opened in the country, and the industry’s regulatory framework has been amended since – the last time in 2012 -, in the light of industry experience and practice.
A statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday said the latest changes would “enhance the operational effectiveness” of Singapore’s casino regulatory regime, via steps including anticipation of technological developments; and would also “tighten the regulation of the casinos and licensees” in the city-state; and “strengthen protection for vulnerable groups”.
Singapore has a casino duopoly consisting of Resorts World Sentosa, run by Genting Singapore Ltd, and Marina Bay Sands, run by a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) oversees all forms of gambling permitted in Singapore.
The amendment will enable the city’s two casino operators to share patron data – without customer consent – for the purposes of tackling money laundering, terrorism financing and weapons proliferation financing. “This would allow the casino operators to take quicker action on their end,” said the ministry.
Currently the operators are constrained by Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act from sharing such information without client consent. At present, GRA facilitates the exchange of such information between the two casino operators.”But this is operationally inefficient and impedes the casino operators from taking timely action,” said the press release.
The Ministry of Home Affairs statement noted that in 2023, only 137 reports of crime, or 0.2 percent of all reported crime cases, were at the city’s casinos.
The ministry also said in its Tuesday statement that it had tightened its own procedures to prevent repeat of a situation earlier this year, when a temporary 2019 order that upped the casino entry levy rates from respectively SGD100 (about US$75) to SGD150 a day; and SGD2,000 to SGD 3,000 a year, had lapsed on April 3, meaning levy rates had reverted for a time to the old figures on April 4.
The amendment bill seeks to anticipate – in broad terms – industry changes. It will permit GRA to regulate in the casinos to cover what are termed currently non-casino activities of “betting and lotteries”. This was in order to “to pre-empt any future changes in the gambling landscape,” noted the ministry.
But it added: “To be clear, there are currently no plans to allow casinos to carry out betting and lotteries.”
The amendment will also enable GRA to approve gaming software as a standalone component, “should the need arise”.
“Today, GRA approves gaming machines, which comprise both software and hardware,” the ministry stated. “GRA has observed that manufacturers of gaming machines have been developing software – without the hardware –, which can be deployed on off-the-shelf mobile devices such as tablets.”
The amendment will also “prescribe any instrument or thing to be regarded as [gaming] chips”.
The ministry said: “This will allow for new wagering instruments (e.g. virtual credits) to be used in future, should GRA assess them to be suitable.”
Currently, GRA must approve all manufacturers and suppliers of gaming machines that are used in a casino.
The 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”. All other manufacturers and/or suppliers with no control over the design and manufacture of gaming machines would no longer need to seek approval.
The bill also seeks to strengthen the regulation of those designated either main shareholders, substantial shareholders or controllers, of Singapore’s casino operators.
IR economics, crime loopholes, player safeguards
The amendment additionally looks to strengthen the ability of a body called the Evaluation Panel to “assess the economic attractiveness of the IRs [integrated resorts]”.
Other matters covered include closing a number of loopholes currently in the Casino Contol Act relating to criminal liability of casino patrons and others, that the police have had to deal with by using other laws.
This part of the rejig of the Act, was to “deter casino-related crime and protect the integrity of gaming operations”.
Loopholes that will be closed include: making it an offence to withdraw a bet after the result is known; and making it an offence to record gaming machines as well as table games.
Additionally, it will be illegal under the amendment, for third parties – not only the immediate person under scrutiny – to destroy or falsify a document required by the GRA.
The bill will mean anyone designated as an excluded person in terms of casino access, will be held liable for entering, remaining or taking part in gambling on casino premises “if it is proven that he knows, or ought reasonably to know that he was an excluded person”.
The amendment will also broaden the criteria the GRA can consider regarding casino operator “suitability”.
This includes whether the operator allows unethical practices such as “workplace discrimination or harassment, or conducting a negative marketing campaign to smear the other casino operator” in the market.
The GRA will also be able to consider whether the casino operator has “poor corporate governance practices or weak internal controls; e.g., disregarding whistleblower reports alleging misconduct of employees”.
In terms of player protection, the amendment seeks to streamline processes relating to problem-gambler exclusion orders and visit limits. Currently it can take up to two months for the National Council on Problem Gambling to be able to replace the softer control with the tougher one, and vice versa. In the interim, currently the individual would not be covered by any safeguards.
Singapore says overall probable pathological and problem gambling rates among Singapore residents have been “low and stable at about 1 percent”.
