In 2010, Singaporeans will wake up to a world that will include casinos, an industry that is sometimes known to have a sleazy underbelly.
While it is not known how the industry here will evolve, some light will likely be thrown at least on how junkets are to be operated when the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) reveals more details on licensing requirements for junket promoters soon. This is expected to address issues such as junket promoters’ eligibility, licensing fees, and disclosure of commissions, junket participants names and even junket schedules.
The junket promoter’s job is to arrange junkets for a select group of people to gamble at a specific casino by offering ‘comps’ - complimentary transportation, food, lodging and entertainment. Their services can also include arranging for credit.
In Macau, junket promoters are thought to be responsible for all the high-roller VIP business, which constitutes almost 70 per cent of the Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) total gaming revenue. However, junket promoters there have operated largely unregulated until the industry was expanded in 2004 to include other players such as Las Vegas Sands and Wynn.
Junkets promoters were thereafter required to be licensed. However, they continued to arrange credit for VIP clients and on occasion, participate in illegal side-betting.
In Singapore, unlicensed money lending is a crime. But while the Casino Control Bill also clearly states that neither the casino nor junket promoters can extend credit to gamers, it does make the exception for non-citizens and non-permanent residents, as well as premium players. It is easy to see how this might be an open door for activities such as money laundering and other misdemeanours. Again in Macau, many of the VIP players are from China, some of whom gambled away ill-gotten funds, prompting the Chinese government to put restrictions on travel to the SAR in 2007, a move that severely affected business in Macau’s casinos.
To give an idea of how tough regulations controlling junket promoters here might be, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in the US requires casinos to not only disclose all junket details including comps and commissions, but also submit reports on arrival details, schedules and make a final report of each junket.
In New Jersey, while it may be junket promoters who bring in the high-rollers, the onus is actually on the casino to ensure that these high-rollers satisfy the criteria of the Casino Control Commission. Indeed, junket promoters are not allowed to have any say at all in a patron’s credit rating much less extend credit.
Some market watchers have commented that the success of Singapore’s casinos could depend on the ability to attract Asia’s VIP gamers. Stringent controls could deter junket promoters from steering business this way. But the opposite approach could see an influx of undesirable visitors. Getting the balance right will be a difficult, delicate task.
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Waking up to the world of casinos
Business Times
03 November 2009
In 2010, Singaporeans will wake up to a world that will include casinos, an industry that is sometimes known to have a sleazy underbelly.
While it is not known how the industry here will evolve, some light will likely be thrown at least on how junkets are to be operated when the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) reveals more details on licensing requirements for junket promoters soon. This is expected to address issues such as junket promoters’ eligibility, licensing fees, and disclosure of commissions, junket participants names and even junket schedules.
The junket promoter’s job is to arrange junkets for a select group of people to gamble at a specific casino by offering ‘comps’ - complimentary transportation, food, lodging and entertainment. Their services can also include arranging for credit.
In Macau, junket promoters are thought to be responsible for all the high-roller VIP business, which constitutes almost 70 per cent of the Special Administrative Region’s (SAR) total gaming revenue. However, junket promoters there have operated largely unregulated until the industry was expanded in 2004 to include other players such as Las Vegas Sands and Wynn.
Junkets promoters were thereafter required to be licensed. However, they continued to arrange credit for VIP clients and on occasion, participate in illegal side-betting.
In Singapore, unlicensed money lending is a crime. But while the Casino Control Bill also clearly states that neither the casino nor junket promoters can extend credit to gamers, it does make the exception for non-citizens and non-permanent residents, as well as premium players. It is easy to see how this might be an open door for activities such as money laundering and other misdemeanours. Again in Macau, many of the VIP players are from China, some of whom gambled away ill-gotten funds, prompting the Chinese government to put restrictions on travel to the SAR in 2007, a move that severely affected business in Macau’s casinos.
To give an idea of how tough regulations controlling junket promoters here might be, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in the US requires casinos to not only disclose all junket details including comps and commissions, but also submit reports on arrival details, schedules and make a final report of each junket.
In New Jersey, while it may be junket promoters who bring in the high-rollers, the onus is actually on the casino to ensure that these high-rollers satisfy the criteria of the Casino Control Commission. Indeed, junket promoters are not allowed to have any say at all in a patron’s credit rating much less extend credit.
Some market watchers have commented that the success of Singapore’s casinos could depend on the ability to attract Asia’s VIP gamers. Stringent controls could deter junket promoters from steering business this way. But the opposite approach could see an influx of undesirable visitors. Getting the balance right will be a difficult, delicate task.
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