Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2023年4月 亞博匯 70 Inside Asian Gaming: When we talk about acting ethically in business, and specifically in the gaming industry, what exactly are we talking about? Anthony Cabot: We have to be careful to distinguish legally compliant from ethical. The minimum expectation for a casino company is that it takes reasonableefforts tocomplywith gaming laws and regulations. An ethical casino company looks beyond its compliance obligations to the impacts of its decisions on the community, players and employees. It will give up some profits when a corporate decision would disproportionately harm any of these groups. For example, implementing a responsible gambling program beyond what the regulations may require can impact profits, but avert significant impacts on players, their families and the community. IAG: How do the ethical obligations of a gaming company differ from those operating in other sectors? AC: Casino companies have more significant ethical obligations than most other industries. Gambling is generally illegal, and licensed casino companies are given the privilege of offering games of chance because society has decided that responsibly operated casinos offer more societal benefits than harms. If that equation flips and the harms exceed the benefits, then the government has justification for revoking those privileges. The societal impacts can be many. The most obvious is problem gambling but others can IN FOCUS 《亞博匯》：當我們討論要在進行業務 時保持操守，特別是在博彩業界當中 時，我們討論的內容到底是甚麼？ Anthony Cabot（AC）： 在這方面我 們要小心，並且應該把操守與法律上的 當守規則分隔開來。對於一間娛樂場公 司，外界對它最基本的期待，就是要付 出合理的努力，去遵守博彩法規。但一 間有操守的娛樂場公司，就不只會考慮 自己在法律上的合規責任，更加會思索 其決定對於社會、玩家及員工的影響。 如果一個商業決定可能會不合理地傷害 到其他族群的話，一間有操守的公司就 會願意不通過執行這種決定來盈利。例 如，這些公司會落實一些比法規更嚴謹 的負責任博彩方案。這種方案可能會影 響盈利，但就能在很大程度上減低對於 玩家及他們的家庭，以致整個社區的影 響。 《亞博匯》: 那麼，一間博彩公司的操守 責任，又與其他界別有甚麼不同呢？ AC： 相對其他大部份界別，博彩公司 的道德責任更加重大。一般而言，博彩 都被視為非法。持牌的娛樂場公司，就 是在社會作出「負責任地營運娛樂場的 利益比害處更大」這個判斷之下，被賦 予提供幸運博彩服務的特權。可是，一 旦這個判斷逆轉，並且害處比利益更大 時，政府就能夠取消這種特權。博彩對 於社會的影響可以很廣泛。當中最明顯 的可以算是問題博彩。但其他的影響， 亦包括通過娛樂場擁有權盈利分配或洗 黑錢，來讓罪犯獲益。對社會的影響， 也能延伸到刻薄僱員，包括不公平的薪 金給付，或者默許職員在一個對其不利