Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming September 2014 74 Vietnam May Lift Locals Ban Vietnam looks to be moving closer to opening its casinos to domestic play. The draft of a new decree on gaming regulation issued by the Ministry of Finance contains a provision for allowing citizens aged 21 or over to enter casinos subject to conditions that have yet to be fully spelled out but would require that they meet certain personal financial criteria. No further details have been announced, according to Thanh Nien Daily , which said the decree is being submitted for approval to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who also will select which casinos will be eligible. Vietnam’s six or so casinos are open only to foreign-passport holders, and various attempts over the last several years to modify the restriction have been unsuccessful in the face of political opposition. Last June, the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo approved a pilot program aimed at opening the domestic market but only in a special economic zone known as Van Don in the northern province of Quang Ninh, where an investment consortium is planning a large-scale mixed-use resort with gaming. Developers of the US$500 million Grand – Ho Tram, which has struggled since opening last summer on the South China Sea coast about 70 miles from Ho Chi Minh City, are hoping they will be included as well. In the meantime, thousands of Vietnamese flock daily to the casino at NagaWorld in Phnom Penh and the smaller casinos closer in on the Cambodian border, and Vietnam derives no economic benefit. Addressing this issue, a majority of lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Standing Committee agreed in April on a loosening of the domestic ban, but under tightly regulated conditions. As Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Phung Quoc Hien said at the time, “Thorough research is needed before Vietnamese can be allowed into casinos.” Nguyen Van Hien, chairman of the assembly’s Justice Committee, said, “We need to legalize gambling for our own citizens with foresight, because of the growth of criminal elements around the industry without strict management.” The new regulations also provide for a modest relaxation of the country’s stringent investment requirements, stipulating that investors or managing partners will only be required to demonstrate five years’ experience in gaming instead of the 10 years suggested in an earlier draft. The US$4 billion investment will be maintained, however, and gaming floors will still be capped at 200 table games and 2,000 machine games. Casinos also would be prohibited from taking their wares online. The draft also calls for advertising to be regulated jointly by the Finance Ministry and the ministries of Planning and Investment and Culture, Sports and Tourism. Melco in Hot Water in Taiwan Authorities in Taiwan have charged a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertainment in connection with the alleged illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars between the island nation and Macau. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office indictment said the Taipei branch of Hong Kong-based MCE International transferred more than NT$5.4 billion (US$180 million) in deliberate violation of foreign exchange controls and financial oversight. The funds allegedly were channeled on behalf of high-rollers looking to gamble at Melco Crown’s City of Dreams and Altira casinos, according to news reports, which said the transfers took place between July 2009 and January 2013, when police raided the offices of MCE and other companies and NT$3 billion in MCE funds were frozen. “The illegal conduct of the defendant MCE International and the other defendants is suspected to have harmed this country’s financial order,” the Prosecutors Office said. The indictment names four present and former employees, including the office’s current “responsible official,”Wang Yen-sheng, his predecessor, Sung Hou-shuan, and a Taiwanese husband-and- wife management team who “set up” the Bo Ying VIP room at City of Dreams, according to a report by GamblingCompliance . REGIONAL BRIEFS The Grand – Ho Tram Nasdaq-listed Melco Crown said at the time of its second- quarter earnings release that it had yet to receive the “formal indictment document” and said it “will defend vigorously any indictment brought against us, as based on Taiwan legal advice received, we believe our operations in Taiwan are in compliance with Taiwan laws”. The company said the charges would not have an “immediate material impact on our business operations or financial position”. VIP revenues historically have accounted for two-thirds of Macau’s world-leading casino market, but they have been falling market-wide this year, and analysts are pointing increasingly to an anti-corruption drive on the Chinese mainland that is accelerating under President Xi Jinping as the cause. The campaign has cast an unwelcome spotlight on Macau City of Dreams