Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAY 2023年5月 亞博匯 50 JUNKET OPERATIONS The riskiest of all casino gaming vulnerabilities. Japan has decided to prohibit junkets by law while other Asian jurisdictions still rely, to varying degrees, on junket play. The Chinese junket industry has been under severe scrutiny as a result of the 10-year crackdown on corruption. Junket operations in Macau have been severely curtailed, and some of the best-known junket operators have been subject to criminal proceedings. Most Macau casinos have reduced their reliance on junket play, and many junket operators have gone out of business in Macau. Junket operations in any casino are seen as a red flag by law enforcement and the FATF. Governments that still permit junket play should have controls in place that will address this level of risk. LICENSING Whether the quality and scope of the licensing process are sufficient to identify beneficial ownership of the gaming operator is crucial. Also, whether a casino is being financed by clean or dirty money is always of concern, so the licensing process should include scrutiny of the financial integrity of the funds being used to finance gaming projects. This means that holding and parent companies will often be included in the licensing process. 3 4 中介業務 這是娛樂場博彩最容易出現問題的幾個部份當中， 最高風險的一個。日本已經決定了通過法律來禁止中介 經營，而其他亞洲司法管轄區，就依然在不同程度上， 依賴中介業務。中國的中介市場由於經過長達10年的打 貪，被嚴格地監督審查。在澳門的中介業務也已經大幅 度萎縮。一些著名的中介業務經營者，已經面臨了刑事 程序。大部份澳門娛樂場，都已經減少他們對於中介業 務的依賴，亦有很多中介營運商失去了在澳門的生意。 在任何賭場裏，中介業務對於執法機構及FATF而言，都 是一個需要警戒的部份。那些依然容許中介博彩繼續進 行的政府，都應該有它們的管控方法，應對如此程度的 風險。 牌照 說到，底發牌過程的工作質素以及程序所包括的 範圍，以至能否讓發牌機構找出到底何人受益於博彩業 務，實在至關重要。同時，一間娛樂場背後的資金是否 乾淨，也是其中一個考量之處。因此，發牌過程應該包 括：審查那個支持博彩項目的背後資金來源，看它是否 有合適的金融操守程度。因此，項目的控股及母公司都 會經常被牽涉在發牌過程之中。 COLUMNISTS