Singapore tweaks casino law to allow cashless gaming; 'no intention' of letting crypto be used to bet
Amendments to the Casino Control Act will also see the Home Affairs Minister overseeing functions related to the whole of government at the strategic level, while the Gambling Regulatory Authority will take over regulatory functions.
The entrance to the Resorts World Sentosa casino in Singapore. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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SINGAPORE: Singapore’s two casinos will be allowed to conduct cashless gaming under changes made to the Casino Control Act on Tuesday (Sep 10).
However, the amendments stopped short of permitting cryptocurrencies to be used in making bets, said Minister of State for Home Affairs and for Social and Family Development Sun Xueling.
The power to approve the main shareholders of casino operators has also been transferred from the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) to the Minister for Home Affairs – currently Mr K Shanmugam – as he is better placed to “ensure continued alignment between the IRs (integrated resorts) and the Singapore government’s strategic objectives”, she added.
Ms Sun reiterated that the Singapore government’s decision to develop the two IRs was based on the need to reinvent the country’s tourism industry and spin off economic benefits, such as job creation, hence it is appropriate for the minister to take on the role.
She was responding to questions in parliament from MPs Louis Ng (PAP-Nee Soon) and Sylvia Lim (WP-Aljunied) on the vesting of the decision-making powers in the minister, and other questions from various MPs related to the governance of casinos here.
In Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 10), Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling responded to clarifications sought by Members on the Casino Control (Amendment) Bill. The Bill was passed in the House.
RESTRICTING GAMING TO CASINOS
Another change is that the GRA can now approve gaming software on its own without hardware components, such as software deployed on off-the-shelf mobile devices like tablets, within casino premises, said Ms Sun.
In response to a question from MP Louis Chua (WP-Sengkang) on how the GRA can ensure that the use of such software is restricted to within the premises, Ms Sun said the games will only be offered on mobile devices provided by the operators and within the casinos.
“They must demonstrate how they would ensure that the gaming software cannot be used outside the casino, for instance, using geofencing technology,” she said.
Tuesday’s amendments also let the GRA prescribe different instruments as chips for casino gambling, and are meant to future-proof the governance regime to allow for new gaming modes such as cashless gaming, said Ms Sun.
“An example is where a patron may place wagers at either the gaming tables or gaming machines by drawing down virtual credits directly from his cashless gaming account or e-wallet,” she said.
There is room to look into raising gambling duties as a means of supplementing fiscal revenues, consistent with Singapore’s approach of raising taxes on activities with negative externalities, said MP Louis Chua. He noted that betting taxes as a percentage of GDP have been flat at around 0.5 per cent in past years, and gambling duties have been unchanged since 2014. Meanwhile, casino taxes were raised in 2022, but the two integrated resorts have been reporting very strong profitability. In Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 10), Mr Chua also asked if the authorities can better harness technology to prohibit access to illegal online gambling portals. He also made the point that retrospective applications of the law must not be treated lightly. This was in relation to a clause validating casino entry levies which were collected at a higher rate for over a month this year, due to an acknowledged oversight by the Ministry of Home Affairs which had overlooked the expiry of a five-year order on the raised levies.
However, the GRA has “no intention of allowing cryptocurrency to be used as chips for casino gambling, as this presents money laundering risk”, she said in response to a question from MP Ng Ling Ling (PAP-Ang Mo Kio).
GAMBLING DISGUISED AS A GAME
MP Melvin Yong (PAP-Radin Mas) noted that chance-based loot boxes are currently not regulated as a form of gambling, as long as there are no in-game monetisation features, despite loot boxes inherently being gambling disguised in the form of a game.
In response, Ms Sun said that the authorities’ current approach to regulating loot boxes is “a balanced one”.
“It aims to safeguard against gambling inducement rather than gaming. We will continue to monitor the landscape closely,” she said.
The Casino Control (Amendment) Bill will enhance the effectiveness of Singapore’s casino regulatory regime and strengthen the protection of vulnerable groups, said MP Melvin Yong. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 10), he pointed out that as new forms of gambling arise, it is important for the law to be able to respond and ensure that illegal gambling and its ills will never take hold in Singapore. Mr Yong said it provides the Gambling Regulatory Authority with the scope to regulate the entire suite of gambling activities in the casinos. He pointed out that the authorities currently do not regulate chance-based loot boxes, which are inherently gambling disguised in the form of a game. He hopes the Government can look into whether there is a need to take a tougher stance on loot boxes. Mr Yong also urged the Government to widen its suite of enforcement tools to prevent vulnerable individuals from receiving unsolicited gambling advertisements.
She highlighted that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had earlier this year imposed a cap on the value of prizes for games at amusement centres and funfairs, due to the higher risk of gambling inducement when large prizes are offered.
“Similarly, if we find that loot boxes are becoming a significant driver of gambling inducement, we will review our regulations,” said Ms Sun.
Mr Chua also asked about measures to clamp down on operators providing unlicensed gambling services, regardless of which countries they are based in.
Under the Gambling Control Act, the definition of remote gambling covers situations where the facilities are outside Singapore, whether in part or in full, said Ms Sun.
“An illegal gambling operator is thus liable for an offence and faces the same penalties even if he resides overseas, as long as the illegal gambling service is accessible by Singapore users,” she said.
“But given the difficulties with enforcing this law against foreign operators, the GRA’s first recourse is to block such illegal online gambling websites.”
MAINTAINING ENTRY LEVIES
The tweaked law also fixed the casino entry levies here for Singapore citizens and permanent residents at S$150 (US$115) per day and S$3,000 yearly.
Breaching a family visit limit at Singapore’s two casinos will become a punishable offence under proposed changes to the law. Anyone doing so could be fined up to S$10,000 and jailed for up to a year if found guilty. Those under exclusion orders from the casinos will also be subject to tighter laws. Breaching such orders will be a crime as long as the excluded person knows, or ought reasonably to know, about their exclusion status. These were among changes outlined in Parliament on Tuesday (Sep 10) by Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling. Apart from reducing harms to those at risk of problem gambling and their families, the amendments aim to deter already low crime at the casinos and ensure that operations are run honestly. For example, new offences are introduced, such as withdrawing bets after the result of a game is known, and recording play patterns of non-card games which could be used to cheat the casinos. To future-proof regulations, the Gambling Regulatory Authority’s (GRA) powers would go beyond games of chance to cover betting and lotteries, gaming software which can be deployed on mobile devices, and allowing new betting instruments such as virtual credits to be used as chips in casinos, should the need arise. The proposals also allow the casino operators to share patrons’ information with each other to more effectively tackle money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing. Other suggested changes include approval of relevant divestments and acquisitions by the main shareholding regimes of casino operators being transferred from the GRA to the Home Affairs Minister, and expanding the suitability criteria for casino licences.
The entry levy was introduced in 2008 as a social safeguard to deter casual and impulse gambling among Singapore residents, said Ms Sun.
The levies had been increased on Apr 4, 2019, from S$100 daily and S$2,000 annually, for a period of five years. However, MHA overlooked the expiry of the 2019 order, and the levies automatically reverted to the lower rates on Apr 4 this year.
On May 8, MHA restored them to the higher amounts, though they were still collected in the expiry period from Apr 4 to May 7, with about S$4.4 million collected above the legislated rates.
Ms Sun said that it was “always the intent to continue the higher levies until such time that we assess that there is a need to further adjust the rates”, in response to a question from Mr Chua on the backdating of the legislation.
“I do not think that there were expectations that the rates would revert to the earlier lower rates after the five-year period,” she said, adding that maintaining the levies had helped address problem gambling.
“That said, we are not treating this incident lightly. We have been upfront to acknowledge the issue, and we have come to parliament to validate the excess collections during this period.”
