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LA CHAMBRE DES REPRÉSENTANTS DU MEXIQUE A finalement approuvé la nouvelle loi fédérale sur les paris sportifs et les tirages au sort par 297 voix pour, 34 contre et 17 abstentions. La nouvelle loi vise à réguler l’industrie du jeu de façon plus efficace en préservant les droits des joueurs tout en rendant le processus d’octroi des licences plus transparent.
LE DÉPUTÉ ARGENTIN À L’ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE, Omar Duclós, a déposé un nouveau projet de loi à la chambre basse qui régulerait la publicité et la promotion des jeux de hasard. La nouvelle loi restreindrait sévèrement la publicité pour les jeux de hasard afin de préserver la population des addictions aux jeux et ses conséquences négatives.
LES FORCES DE POLICES FÉDÉRALES DU BRÉSIL ONT lancé une opération à grande échelle à travers différents États baptisée « Operação Trevo » (opération trèfle), avec pour objectif de démanteler une organisation criminelle accusée de blanchiment d’argent et de l’exploitation illégale de maisons de jeux.
LE DÉCLIN DE L’INDUSTRIE DES JEUX DE HASARD AU Costa Rica a entrainé la fermeture de deux autres casinos. Selon la presse locale, les coûts d’exploitation élevés ont obligé deux casinos, le Casino Europa situé au sein de l’hôtel Europa ainsi que le Casino Europa de l’hôtel Radisson à mettre la clé sous la porte. Ces fermetures, intervenues fin novembre, ont provoqué le licenciement de 200 salariés.
RENFORÇANT SON RÉSEAU EN AMÉRIQUE LATINE, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) a été homologué comme laboratoire d’essai proposant des services de certifica- tion au Paraguay.
LE GROUPE AUTRICHIEN NOVOMATIC GROUP, À travers sa filiale espagnole NOVOMATIC Gaming Spain, a pris le contrôle de GiGames.
EN VUE DU DÉVELOPPEMENT FULGURANT DES JEUX en ligne et de l’ouverture d’une nouvelle période d’octroi de licences par la Direction générale des Jeux de Hasard (Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ)), le groupe R. Franco a décidé de faire son entrée dans l’industrie en ligne.
L’INTÉRÊT SUSCITÉ PAR LE PREMIER COMPLEXE DE loisirs intégrant un casino en Chypre du Sud a été immense selon la presse locale ayant fait le lien entre ce processus et Caesars Entertainment, Genting et Las Vegas Sands.
L’OPÉRATEUR FRANÇAIS JOA A INAUGURÉ SES nouveaux équipements de jeu au sein de son Casino D’Uriage à Saint-Martin d’Uriage, en région Rhône-Alpes. Le design fait largement appel au verre laqué opaque coloré dans les couleurs orange, rose saumon et rouge afin de créer un espace casino contemporain.
LE GROUPE NOVOMATIC A ANNONCÉ QUE LE VÉTÉRAN de l’industrie du jeu de hasard, Jens Halle, est en passe d’aban- donner ses fonctions réunies de Directeur général d’Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH et de CEO de Novomatic Americas Sales LLC.
LE GOUVERNEMENT NÉPALAIS EST DISPOSÉ À approuver l’exploitation par la société Silver Heritage Limited basée à Hong Kong d’un casino au Shangri-La Hotel & Resort dans la capitale de Katmandu.
3 2 AGA RELEASES AML BEST PRACTICE
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released a comprehensive set of Anti-Money Laundering Best Practices Nevada - Policy
The American Gaming Association (AGA) has released a comprehensive set of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Best Practices to guide the efforts of casinos to protect the US financial sys- tem and national security from money laundering and other forms of illicit finance.
The AGA’s Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance are the result of more than a year of work to identify and enhance industry guidelines, which were developed in coordination with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“Today marks a milestone for the gaming industry, which has come together to develop the first-of- its-kind, forward-looking set of Best Practices that reflect our industry’s commitment to a strong culture of compliance,” said Geoff Freeman, presi- dent and chief executive officer of the AGA. “We look forward to further bolstering our partnership with FinCEN to prevent money laundering and protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”
Casino companies have developed risk-based programs that promote compliance with the legal requirements of the federal Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and associated AML regulations to discour- age illicit behavior and safeguard the integrity of
the casino industry. Risk-based compliance efforts are essential to the casino industry’s effec- tive implementation of AML controls.
The Best Practices illustrate the industry’s com- mitment to a strong culture of compliance. They distill the procedures that a wide range of casinos have adopted across critical issues including cus- tomer due diligence, transaction monitoring and employee training. Notably, the document also sets forth a series of “red flags” that are specifical- ly tailored to the gaming sector. Individual casinos have implemented a range of measures and guidelines that aim to prevent, detect and report efforts to present illicit funds at casinos. The AGA added: “While the vast majority of patrons visit casinos for entertainment, those engaged in illegal activity may attempt to use the casino’s financial services to conceal or transfer illicit wealth. The release of the Best Practices is an important step toward achieving the goals the industry shares with regulators and law enforcement: protecting the integrity of gaming and keeping illicit funds out of our nation’s casinos.”
The basic framework of a BSA/AML compliance program involves the appointment of a compli- ance officer for the casino, the assignment of sub- stantial employee time to compliance measures, and oversight of the compliance effort by a com- pliance committee, which includes representa- tives of the property’s operations and financial staff. In order to promote a culture of compliance, casinos also may want to consider periodic updates regarding their AML programs to the Board of Directors.
Antigua The Antiguan Government has signed a deal with Australian casino developer James Packer and Hollywood actor Robert De Niro for a major project at the former K Club resort on Barbuda. It is not known at this stage whether K Club’s owner, Italian designer Mariuccia Mandelli has decided to sell the property, which has been closed for the last 10 years. The Government’s Chief of Staff, Lionel Hurst, said: “In Barbuda, we have a great scheme worked out with the son of Kerry Packer, who is himself a billionaire and actor Robert De Niro. They are going to take the K Club and breathe new life into it.” It is not known yet whether a casino would be part of the plan although given Mr. Packer’s involvement, it is highly likely.
Co-owner Jonathan Gray added: “We’re excited by the potential of this hotel. We plan to bring to bear all the experience we have with other assets. For us, this is an exciting opportunity to do something special. We’re bullish on Las Vegas.”
Blackstone Group approved for Cosmopolitan takeover
NEVADA Nevada Gaming Control Board has approved Blackstone Group, a private equity investment fund, license to buy Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas. Blackstone said in May it wanted to purchase
the Cosmopolitan from Germany-based Deutsche Bank for US$ 1.73bn. The company’s joint owner Tyler Henritze said: “We think there is a lot of oppor- tunity to bring the property to its full potential.”
In its four years of operation, Cosmopolitan has never made an annual profit. With 2,995-room, the $3.9bn Cosmopolitan opened in December 2010. Deutsche Bank took over ownership of the property after the initial devel- oper defaulted. Blackstone Group commented that it would make changes including, changing the casino’s façade, adding another restaurant and refurbishing parts of the gaming floor to boost rev- enue.
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