New AML laws coming this month
Bloomberry Resorts Chairman Enrique Razon Jr. says the Philippine gaming industry may suffer from overinvestment. In an interview with Reuters, Razon, whose company operates the Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila’s Entertainment City, said cannibalization “is always possible. With liquidity nowadays and low interest rates, people are making investments that 10 years ago they wouldn’t even think about.”
The Philippines is one of the fastest-growing casino destinations in Asia after Macau and Singapore, the news outlet reported.
Razon opened the $1.2 billion Solaire on Manila Bay in 2013. Entertainment City is also home to City of Dreams Manila, a Melco Resorts property; Genting’s mega-resort under the Resorts World brand; and Universal Entertainment’s Okada Manila, which debuted in December. Gross gaming revenue was up 27 percent in the year to August, thanks to strong visitation and the ability for high rollers to place proxy bets, which are outlawed in Macau.
A plan to start privatizing casinos owned by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. will give Bloomberry an opportunity to add to its assets, Razon said, but he doesn’t know yet if he’s interested.
PAGCOR, which also serves as the state-run regulatory body, will sell off more than 40 casinos across the country in the years to come. Ben Lee, managing partner at gaming consultancy IGamiX said the move would “create a whole lot of mini casinos all over the place, and I expect that to increase.”
Regulatory changes are also in the offing. The Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council will release a new anti-money laundering framework in October, adding casinos to the list of covered entities. The new guidelines will require casinos to observe Know Your Customer standards and report all suspicious transactions, including cash transactions beyond P5 million.
