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Catch up on some of the stories our gambling compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.

Thai Cabinet Approves IR Bill With Wealth Restriction

Thailand’s Cabinet has sent a draft law allowing casinos to operate as part of integrated resorts (IRs) to parliament for debate, but a contentious personal wealth requirement for local gamblers of 50m baht ($1.5m) has been retained.

The Cabinet on Thursday (March 27) gave the green light to the draft legislation, but it has placed the onus of amending the wealth requirement on lawmakers.

This move comes despite steady industry warnings that the de facto high-roller limitation will kill interest among global gaming companies.

The 50m baht condition would require Thai gamblers to supply casinos with bank account details showing a consistent minimum balance of 50m baht, a provision that was in February by the Office of the Council of State, a drafting and legal advisory organ under the Prime Minister.

Despite the deputy finance minister declaring in early March that the provision had been , the version finally put to Cabinet retained the restriction, ringing alarm bells among analysts who warned of damage to investor interest in multibillion-dollar resorts with no local mass market play.

The Cabinet’s decision to proceed with this version of the draft now exposes elected representatives to keener pressure from activists and dissident colleagues.

Government spokesperson Jirayu Houngsub said on Thursday that public hearings will be held ahead of parliamentary debate.

“The government supports entertainment complexes mainly to stimulate the economy, investment and tourism,” the Bangkok Post quoted him as saying.

Arkansas Bans Greyhound Racing, Simulcasts

Almost three years after the last greyhound race was run in Arkansas, the state’s Republican governor has made it official by signing a bill to ban greyhound racing.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed on Tuesday (March 25), banning greyhound racing in the state and phasing out simulcast wagering on dog races by 2028.

Senator Jamie Scott, a Democrat, described the bill as a cleanup measure that repeals the greyhound racing statutes from the Arkansas code. The Arkansas Racing Commission has already repealed their rules on greyhound racing.

“So, this is just a cleanup bill for the regulatory change that has already taken place,” Scott said.

Oaklawn Casino in Hot Springs and Southland Racing Corp in West Memphis were neutral on the bill, while Saracen Casino in Pine Bluff does not offer greyhound wagering anymore, Scott added.

Live racing began at Southland in 1956, with greyhound racing officially ending on December 31, 2022. Currently, Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Wisconsin have no active tracks, but dog racing remains legal in those states.

West Virginia has the last two tracks in the U.S. that offer live greyhound racing. They are Wheeling Island Casino & Racetrack and Mardi Gras Casino & Resort.

Tilman Fertitta Raises Ownership Stake In Wynn Resorts

Tilman Fertitta, owner of Fertitta Entertainment, has increased his stake in Wynn Resorts to 11.8 percent, requiring the casino owner to apply to the Nevada Gaming Commission for a finding of suitability.

Fertitta’s company owns the Golden Nugget brand that operates casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin and Lake Tahoe, and has previously been licensed by the commission. He also owns the National Basketball Association’s Houston Rockets.

Nevada gaming regulations require any person who, individually or in association with others, acquires or holds, directly or indirectly, more than 10 percent of voting shares in a publicly traded company to apply for a finding of suitability.

Fertitta has 30 days to submit his application with the commission.

In a filing on Tuesday (March 25) with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wynn Resorts reported Fertitta acquired an additional 1.68m shares, bringing his total to 12.58m shares.

Fertitta, who was already the largest shareholder at 9.9 percent, previously filed his intent to purchase the shares by May 13. He also announced he would step down as the top executive with Fertitta Entertainment if he is confirmed to serve a four-year term as the next U.S. ambassador to Italy.

Operators Fined Over €3m For Duty Of Care Shortcomings In Sweden

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) has fined two Malta-based operators a total of SEK36m (€3.31m) for duty of care shortcomings.

Malta-based Glitnor Services Limited, operator of the luckycasino.com website, was issued a warning and a penalty fee of SEK28m for not taking sufficient measures to combat excessive gambling.

Out of 12 customers examined by the SGA that exhibited excessive gambling behaviours, Glitnor failed to help ten of them reduce their gambling.

“Glitnor has not taken sufficiently effective measures to counteract excessive gambling, has not followed up on the effect of the measures taken, and has not acted sufficiently promptly,” according to the SGA’s decision dated March 21.

The operator of the Leovegas.com website, Roar Vegas Ltd, which is also Malta-based, was issued a remark and a penalty fee of SEK8m for not sufficiently helping customers to reduce their gambling when there was reason to do so.

“Roar Vegas Ltd has indeed acted with effective measures, but the Swedish Gambling Authority assesses that Roar Vegas Ltd should have intervened earlier than they did. The company has thus breached the so-called duty of care,” the SGA said in a separate

Roar Vegas did not sufficiently help three of the 12 customers examined by the SGA, who all exhibited several signs of excessive gambling.

The company did take effective measures to help the customers reduce their gambling; however, the SGA believes the operator should have intervened earlier.

bet365 Pulls Plug On China

British online wagering giant bet365 has announced it will cease targeting the Chinese market, EGR Global reported on Monday (March 24).

EGR reported that bet365 confirmed the decision after informing customers of the move and that leaving the massive market is part of a shift to “long-term sustainable revenue”, according to a company official.

Alun Bowden, senior vice president for strategic insight at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, said that cutting off China “could be about the USA”.

bet365 “are really gunning for and this is clearly one of its biggest priorities for growth, if not the biggest”, Bowden said on his LinkedIn account.

Bowden added that the bet365 move reflects the wider contraction of online gambling grey markets as mainstream operators gravitate to regulated markets and “crypto-driven sites” remain in the shadows.

bet365 is one of more than 50 operators to have entered the Brazilian market, but it has walked away from several others in recent years as more governments impose legal, regulatory and tax hurdles, including India, Hungary and a number of nations in Africa.

Michigan Orders Unregulated Online Casinos To Cease Operations

The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) continued their aggressive enforcement against offshore, unregulated online sweepstakes sites on Monday (March 24), issuing cease-and-desist letters to ten illegal operators owned by Apex Dynamic Ltd., a company based in Belize.

The letters were sent to Aladdin’s Gold Casino, All Star Slots, Buzz Luck, Club World Casinos, CryptoReels, High Noon, Lucky Red Casino, Manhattan Slots Casino, ReelSpin Casino, and Slotter Casino.

According to the MGCB, the letters were to Apex Dynamics and other entities that were illegally operating casino-style games and providing access to those games to Michigan residents. The operators have 14 days from the receipt of the cease-and-desist letters to cease their illegal activities.

“We will continue to take strong action to shut down illegal operations that undermine trust in Michigan’s legal gaming system,” Henry Williams, MGCB executive director, said in a statement.

If the operators do comply, the MGCB will work with the Michigan attorney general’s office to pursue further legal action. Since January 1, the MGCB has issued 26 cease-and-desist orders to offshore casino and sports betting sites, such as MyBookie.ag and BetNow, and multiple sweepstakes sites.

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