Singapore casino regulations nearing completion

Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister has confirmed that the newly-formed statutory board, the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA), is about to complete the legal framework to regulate the resort casinos in Singapore.

Speaking at a Home Team Promotion Ceremony Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng, who is also the Home Affairs Minister, said the CRA and its regulatory framework, would be fully operational this year. The CRA was set up to ensure that the state’s two integrated resort casinos remain crime free.

Wong also praised cooperation between the various local agencies that make up the Home Team which he said has led to a big drop in the number of repeat offenders in prison in Singapore.

In a recent interview, influential ex-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew who headed the government in Singapore between 1959 and 1990 said that he believed Singapore had in place all the necessary controls to ensure the casinos are run along the right lines.

„We have clear procedures and supervision over banks in Singapore for money laundering,“ he said. „We are a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). We have also set up the Casino Regulatory Authority headed by a senior police officer. We have high-quality casino investors in two integrated resorts, each over USD 4 billion because they are confident there will be no mafia, no prostitution rings, no money laundering.“