MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has started drafting rules that would require monitoring and reporting gambling activities of suspected money launderers.
Pagcor’s move came despite the exclusion in the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of a provision requiring casino operators to report such activities.
Francis Hernando, vice president for gaming and licensing operations, said they were finalizing the rules in dealing with activities related to money laundering.
“In fact, Pagcor is functioning as a regulator. As we are doing now, we want to strengthen that role progressively. We are developing our set of rules in time for the opening of Solaire,†he said.
Hernando said parts of these casino regulations include monitoring of transactions deemed suspicious under the AMLA.
“If we want to attain international class and be recognized worldwide, we have to police ourselves properly,†he said.
The draft regulations will likely be formalized and implemented in September this year.
“We’d like to hopefully be recognized internationally the way Macau, Singapore, Las Vegas, New Jersey and Australia did. There is a formal set of rules applied to everybody for a level playing field,†Hernando said.
He said the rules are predictable, and there are sanctions for certain infractions.
The draft has been approved by the Pagcor board, and the final version is expected to be ready by September.
Hernando said the rules – including sanctions for use of casinos by money launderers – are being developed with the licensees.
Some senators argued the inclusion of the provision would affect the government’s plan to raise the so-called Entertainment City or Mega Casino in Manila Bay.
Hernando assured the Senate committee on games and amusement that the Entertainment City is on track with the opening of a major hub next month.
He said Pagcor was still waiting for Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) to wrap up negotiations for the development of an integrated entertainment and resort complex in Pasay City.
RLC and Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment have been trying to work out a final agreement on their joint venture.
Hernando admitted there might be some reduction in revenues of some Pagcor-run casinos.
“I will be less than honest to say that it won’t hurt. I think for our casinos within the immediate vicinity of Entertainment City, our group is bracing for the operation of the second resort,†he said.