Cambodian Assembly Adopts Draft Law on Gaming

[CEOCambodiaNews]

Cambodian NA approves bill on commercial gaming management
The National Assembly of Cambodia on October 5 adopted a draft law on commercial gaming management, which aims to put casinos and other gaming facilities in the country under control.
VNA Monday, October 05, 2020 20:24

Phnom Penh (VNA) - The National Assembly of Cambodia on October 5 adopted a draft law on commercial gaming management, which aims to put casinos and other gaming facilities in the country under control.

According to Cambodian Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth, 114 lawmakers attending the parliamentary session unanimously approved the bill.

He said the bill sets a minimum capital for the investment in a casino and provides measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

"The law is aimed at further strengthening the management of commercial gaming facilities in Cambodia so as to contribute to boosting economic growth, promoting tourism, increasing tax revenue as well as maintaining social safety and security," he said at the session.

In Cambodia, casinos are licensed to operate in order to help attract foreign tourists, while local residents are not allowed to gamble in the casinos.

A total of 193 casinos have been licensed in the country so far./.

[CEOCambodiaNews]

6 Oct 2020
Cambodia approves new gambling law
By Violeta Prockyte

Cambodia’s National Assembly has approved a draft law on commercial gambling management. It was adopted almost unanimously, gaining 114 votes out of the 117. The draft will become a law after the King signs it, and it’s predicted to provide a boost to the economy.

Cheam Yeap, chairman of the National Assembly’s Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Audit, said: “This law is aimed to ensure management of the integrated commercial gambling centres and commercial gambling to contribute towards boosting economic growth, promoting the tourism sector, creating more jobs, collecting revenue, and maintaining social safety and security.”
https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/10 ... mbling-law

[CEOCambodiaNews]

Cambodia’s Initiative to Improve Casino Management Challenged by US Expert
Posted on: October 7, 2020, 07:06h.
Last updated on: October 8, 2020, 08:12h.
Ed Silverstein

The National Assembly approved the bill this week by 114 out of 117 votes, Inside Asian Gaming reported. The king of Cambodia is expected to sign it into law. The new law has 12 chapters and 97 articles, the Khmer Times, a Cambodian-based publication, reported.

It is designed to encourage economic growth, promote tourism, add jobs, generate more revenue, and maintain security, Cheam Yeap, chairman of the National Assembly’s Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Audit, was quoted by Inside Asian Gaming.

The bill will require minimum investments for a new casino, set up gambling zones, monitor casinos, and put in controls to curb money laundering and any financing of terrorism. It also aims to encourage investment into casinos by having globally competitive regulations, Minister of Economy and Finance Aun Pornmoniroth said.

On the surface, it sounds great, it’s all very much needed, and I’m sure it has a lot to do with Cambodia being on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force on money laundering (FATF),” Sophal Ear, a professor of diplomacy and world affairs at California’s Occidental College, told Casino.org.

“Clearly, something had to be done to bring Cambodia — at least from a regulatory standpoint — into compliance,” Ear added. “But, as with everything in Cambodia, the devil is in the details, and Cambodia has no compunction about passing a law and totally ignoring it when convenient.”

He further explains, “There is no relationship between what the law says and reality…. At least in the short to medium term, I don’t think there will be much change — people [allegedly] paid their bribes already, they’re grandfathered,” Ear added.

Ear points out that the casino sector has expanded over the years before such a bill was approved. “It took [an estimated] 193 licensed casinos [in Cambodia] to decide that a law on commercial gambling management was now needed,” Ear noted.

The [Cambodian] minimum investment requirement is likely to apply only to new investments, so it serves as a barrier to entry, meaning now that 193 are operating, new ones will have to pass a hurdle,” Ear added. He noted the government did the same thing with college and universities. That initiative created barriers to entry that benefitted the existing colleges and universities.
Full article: https://www.casino.org/news/cambodias-i ... us-expert/

[CEOCambodiaNews]

20 Nov 2020
Cambodian government passes new gaming bill into law
By Owain Flanders
According to reports from Inside Asian Gaming (IAG), Cambodian deputy director of the ministry of economy and finance, Ros Phirun, has confirmed that the government has signed a new casino bill into law.

Cambodia’s National Assembly signed off on the measures last month, aiming to update the country’s casino regulation for the modern era.

Speaking with IAG, Phirun said that the bill, titled Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling (LMCG), was officially passed into law last Saturday.

Through the new updated measures, the Cambodian government is hoping to appease the Financial Action Task Force and increase tourism in the country.

The law sets out a series of new regulatory controls, such as dividing Cambodia into three gaming zones. These zones vary from areas in which gaming is permitted, to regions in which gaming is not permitted in any form.

The new legal framework also sets out gross gaming revenue tax on casinos, which requires operators to pay 4% on VIP gaming activity and 7% on overall gaming. The industry will be overseen by the Integrated Resort Management and Commercial Gambling Committee.
https://www.gamblinginsider.com/news/10 ... l-into-law

[CEOCambodiaNews]

China said to be expanding blacklist for overseas gambling
Jan 27, 2021

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a Tuesday statement that it would add more overseas destinations to its “blacklist system” for cross-border gambling tourist destinations, according to Xinhua news agency, a state-run outlet. As with earlier official mentions of China’s overseas-gambling blacklist, the latest announcement didn’t identify the places concerned.

Xinhua cited the ministry as saying in the latest update that it and “relevant departments” would “make a list of the second batch of overseas destinations that attract Chinese tourists for gambling activities, which will be subsequently added to the system”.

China’s so-called “blacklist system” for overseas gambling destinations was first announced in August, to “better regulate the tourism market and safeguard the lives and property of Chinese citizens,” said the ministry at the time.

The blacklist was established with support from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, said the announcement.

“Travel restrictions will be imposed on Chinese citizens heading to overseas cities and scenic areas on the list,” the Chinese authorities stated.

Investment analysts have previously said China’s backlist system was seen as a “gentle warning” to emerging gambling jurisdictions in Southeast Asia, such as Cambodia, the Philippines or Vietnam, and possibly to Australia – destinations where a vast majority of VIP demand is said to come from China, predominantly via junket operators.
https://www.ggrasia.com/china-said-to-b ... -gambling/

[Ghostwriter]

all this remunerated assembly's hard work while just humming together in a muffled voice their favorite motto, at least grow some funky balls and say it loud and clear !!!

[SternAAlbifrons]

"The industry will be overseen by the Integrated Resort Management and Commercial Gambling Committee."

I wonder how much a job on that committee costs?

[truffledog]

[Clutch Cargo]

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a Tuesday statement that it would add more overseas destinations to its “blacklist system” for cross-border gambling tourist destinations

China’s so-called “blacklist system” for overseas gambling destinations was first announced in August, to “better regulate the tourism market and safeguard the lives and property of Chinese citizens,” said the ministry at the time.

In October, China’s Ministry of Public Security said it had identified in the first nine months of 2020, the equivalent of nearly US$150 billion that had been due to exit the country for “cross-border” gambling activities. The ministry launched in June a web-based platform, in Chinese and English, for the public to report “cross-border gambling” as well as “telecom frauds”.

Is there a whitelist then?

I would've thought Macau would be a candidate but it's part of the PRC and not really 'overseas'.

[CEOCambodiaNews]

Number of licensed casinos in Cambodia now at 87
by Ben Blaschke
Wed 13 Sep 2023 at 18:05

Cambodia’s gambling regulator has issued licenses to 87 casinos since the country’s gaming law came into effect in 2021, proving that efforts to place stricter controls on the industry are proving effective, according to representative Khim Oudam.

Mr Khim, Deputy Director of Legal Affairs and Licensing Department for the Cambodian Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC), noted during a panel session at the IAG Academy Summit on Wednesday that this meant the number of casinos operating in Cambodia had been slashed from more than 200 before the new law.

“Previously the amount of casinos in Cambodia was a lot more than this,” he explained. “Under the previous law we could not easily cut the number of casinos that used to invest in Cambodia, but under this new law we have strict conditions around requirements.

“The government has been cutting [licenses] step by step based on their capital because under the new law, casinos must have capital of US$100 million to start with for a normal casino and for an integrated resort it must be US$200 million.

“This means many smaller casinos are being closed because they cannot comply with the new law.”

Cambodia’s long-awaited casino bill, the Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling (LMCG), was passed into law in 2021 and outlined a range of new regulatory controls, including dividing Cambodia into three distinct gaming zones where gaming is either prohibited, permitted or favored.

It also set a new tax on gross gaming revenues of 4% for VIP and 7% for mass. Mr Khim confirmed that casino operators are now required to declare their gross gaming revenues directly with obligations collected every month based on this GGR.
https://www.asgam.com/index.php/2023/09 ... now-at-87/