The past several months have been very dynamic for the gaming field of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands since the government is working on new gaming regulations which could better the overall experience for all parties involved. This Monday saw the official announcement of a new proposed bill which would strive to bring casino fraud in the region to the minimum.
Over the span of the last months of 2017 as well as the beginning of this year, the region has been introduced to many improvements which have the potential to propel ahead the gaming industry and make it a safer entertainment option for everyone interested. This week saw the official introduction of the bill which would aim to make it impossible for casino venues to become the victim of any fraudulent activities and provide the authorities with the needed protection tools against such misconducts.
The said bill goes by the name Senate Bill 20-98 or as it is also referred to “Prevention of Fraudulent Misuse of Financial Instruments in Casino Gaming and Other Transactions Act” was officially introduced by Senate President Arnold I Palacios. Since the field on an international level has always been a targeted one for criminal activity and fraudulent acts, the authorities are striving to prevent this from happening and they are working in advance to devise a plan for action.
Prevention of Fraudulent Activities
Some of the potential threats which were mentioned in relation to the future operation were counterfeit money, the use of fake credits cards, as well as other illicit activities. As for the main target of this new bill, this is no other than the widely-discussed luxurious Imperial Pacific Resort and Casino which is currently under construction.
The future operation of the gaming venue is going to be fortified with the protection of the new bill. What concerns the government is the fact that ever since the official launch of Best Sunshine Live, which was the temporary casino venue of the casino resort back in 2015, the situation has changed. Now the potential danger of financial fraud in Saipan has seen a significant increase and this threat should be addressed with the help of the new Senate bill.
In the meantime, while this new proposed regulation is aiming to improve the operation in the field, there is also the factor of uncertainty revolving around the future gaming location. As it was confirmed mid-May, the casino developer Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International is finding it hard to attract workers from the United States in order to reach the previously set quota.
In turn, the completion of the casino resort located in Saipan is being slowed down. It has been confirmed that next year there will be only 4,999 foreign worker slots available at the CNMI. When compared to previous years this is a significantly smaller number, but there is also the possibility that the entire batch of foreign worker slots could be removed as a practice after 2019.