Singapore tweaks casino law to allow cashless gaming; ‘no intention’ of letting crypto be used to bet

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.
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.
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).
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.
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.”
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.
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.”