Japanese local Governments and their selected commercial partners for the establishment of integrated casino resorts are expected to table their final projects to the National Diet. A number of regulatory updates on the country’s gambling expansion have been published by Japan’s Casino Regulatory Commission (CRC) ahead of that deadline.
First, the regulatory body provided some information on what would be happening in April 2021. At that time, the Casino Regulatory Commission suggested that the Government would allow integrated casino resorts to offer roulette, craps, Sic Bo, 4 types of blackjack, 2 types of baccarat, 8 types of poker, pay gow, money wheel and Casino War to their customers. The integrated resorts are given the chance to host regular table games, electronic gaming tables (EGTs), or both.
Local Governments in the country – and more specifically, Osaka, Nagasaki and Wakayama – have until April 28th to present their integrated casino resort proposals to the country’s authorities in order to be reviewed. They still have a lot of work to do until then, especially considering the fact that the casino watchdog published more details on its website a few days ago to provide local Governments and their commercial partners with clearer information about what is expected of them.
A 15% tax would be imposed on the integrated casino resorts’ gross gaming revenue (GGR) by the National Government of Japan. Another 15% of the resort’s GGR will be received by the CRC and the local prefecture where the casino is hosted. All payments of the integrated casino resorts’ tax in the country will be subject to monitoring and control Casino Regulatory Commission.
Local Prefectures Have 3 Months Left to Present Integrated Casino Resort Projects
The information that was recently published on the Japanese casino watchdog website is set to provide better knowledge of the different types of regulation that will be established along with the new form of gambling.
The regulatory responsibilities of the CRC are broken down into 4 categories:
- Concept/Approach to casino regulations,
- Overview of casino regulations,
- Main Laws concerning casino regulations,
- Summary of casino regulations and Measures against adverse effects.
The regulatory body is set to monitor and strictly control all aspects of the new type of gambling in the country, including gambling equipment manufacturers, transactions, casino operators and their staff members, investors in casino operators, etc. The Casino Regulatory Commission has explained that, under the IR Development Act of Japan, the watchdog is responsible for the development of infallible measures for the casino gambling sector so that safe casino operations are guaranteed. That is why the regulator aims at achieving a sector that is found attractive by tourists and remains competitive on a global scale.
The Japanese Government previously shared that it intended to heavily regulate gambling advertising in order to tackle problem gambling and gambling-related harm in the county. The regulation of the gambling sector expansion will also involve strict controls of financial movements so that any risk of money laundering is minimized.
The Japanese Government approved the casino gambling expansion laws in 2018 when global gambling giants have been truly interested in becoming part of the sector. Since then, however, the situation has changed a lot. The majority of casino operators have withdrawn their interest from the country, while a number of prefectures that were once interested in becoming home to an integrated casino resort have decided not to apply for an IR operating license.
Now, there are only 3 months left for the local Governments to table their IR proposals for the Central Government to review, after which the approval process is set to start.
