There has been an uptick in the amount of online gaming in the Philippines recently, some of which has been determined to be operating beyond the scope of gambling laws. The country’s gambling regulator, PAGCOR, is perplexed over how this could be possible, since existing financial and anti-money laws require banks and other money-handlers to do their job in preventing illegal activity. As a result, PAGCOR wants the country’s central bank, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), to take a closer look at all financial entities along with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to determine if any underhanded activity is occurring. 

PAGCOR has good reason to suspect that certain banks or money-transmitting operators are, directly or indirectly, involved in illegal gambling. It explains in a notice on its website from last Friday that the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) has been conducting surveillance on a number of suspected illegal gambling facilities operating out of the country. One, an illegal online bingo operator, has already been busted by the PNP-ACG and, since all of these have to be able to move money in and out, someone with ties to the legal financial realm has to be involved. 

The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) industry has been running for some time, despite being the center of a lot of controversy in the country. However, while POGOs are legitimate, the newer illegal operators, perhaps capitalizing on the COVID-19 lockdown that forced retail casinos to close, could be attempting to mask themselves as having ties to the POGO segment. They have increased their marketing efforts on social media platforms and are trying to disguise themselves as operating with a license and according to regulations when, in fact, neither is true. 

Adds PAGCOR in its statement, “To further strengthen the fight against unauthorized gambling activities, the state-run gaming regulator will ask for the assistance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to conduct an investigation on banks, remittance services, and payment solutions used fund conduits for these illegal operations. 

GGPoker have announced that they will be the hosts of the Battle of Malta, including the $3 million Main Event.

With so many live events heading online, who hosts them is the biggest question of all. GGPoker have already brought 54 WSOP events to the masses to make the 2020 World Series of Poker Online Series a huge success.

Originally scheduled for slightly earlier in the year, the Battle of Malta players will only have to wait until November now. With the series taking place on GGPoker between November 1st – 22nd, the Main Event, which costs just $550 to play, will have a guarantee of $3 million.

Initially billed to take place in early October, players will not mind one bit that it’s taking place online givien that live poker tournaments are almost certainly not going to take place properly until the Coronavirus vaccine is found or the virus is no longer classed as a pandemic.

China’s gamblers send over $146b abroad each year, much of it through digital currencies, posing a threat to the nation’s security.

That’s the view of Liao Jinrong, an official at China’s Ministry of Public Security, who spoke Thursday at the Ninth China Payment and Settlement Forum in Beijing. In addition to the nation’s top cops, the Forum also featured contributions from the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Liao claimed that so-called ‘cross-border’ gambling resulted in the annual outflow of RMB1t (US$146.6b), much of it to gambling operators – both land-based and online – in the Philippines, Myanmar and other Asia-Pacific jurisdictions.

Chinese authorities have previously stated that such capital outflow represents a threat to Chinese economic security and have targeted online gambling payment processors with record fines in a bid to deter others from straying off the straight and narrow.

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts is disassociating itself from its former junket partners as the endless stream of negative news emerging from a regulatory inquiry shows no sign of abating.

On Friday, Crown announced that it had “suspended all activity with junket operators until 30 June 2021 while it undertakes a comprehensive review of its processes related to junket operators.”

Trying to calm investors as to the effect this new junket stance will have on operations, Crown said junket-based VIP play at its Melbourne and Perth casinos accounted for around 7% of its earnings over the past five years. Crown added that it’s also searching for someone to fill “the newly created role of Head of Compliance and Financial Crimes.”

Crown’s new anti-junket/pro-compliance stance follows a disastrous appearance by CEO Ken Barton at the New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry into Crown’s suitability to hold a state gaming license. Barton claimed ignorance of a ‘cash desk’ at a Crown Melbourne VIP gaming room run by the Suncity Group junket.  

The seedier users of digital currencies have flown under the radar for quite some time, but governments are starting to get smart to their ways. Oversight is coming all around the world, and Bitcoin SV is ready for it as we’ll find out at CoinGeek Live.

Switzerland, long thought of as a refuge for money you don’t want the world to know about, has joined the regulatory world of crypto currency. That country recently passed the a reformed Blockchain Act, regulating how decentralized finance companies in the country operate. That will make it harder for criminals, who have often used digital currencies to launder their ill-gotten gains, to pass money through the country.

Elsewhere, several law enforcement agencies are cracking down on organized crime’s use of digital currencies. Agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are spending millions to improve their ability to audit and investigation the flow of funds, while the IRS has set up a bounty to crack supposedly “untraceable” assets.

And let’s not forget, the European Union has made it imperative that all of their member states sign on to the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5). This forces business using digital currencies to operate within the law, and make their business partners, and customers, open to scrutiny.

The world may never know all the details of one of the most extensive and intricate casino money-laundering networks ever thought to exist. Canada has been spending an exorbitant amount of time over the past couple of years trying to clean up its casino industry following steady allegations of widespread money-laundering activity going on at the venues, and one of the most notorious individuals tied to much of those operations was Jian Jun Zhu. He is said to have been behind the movement of billions of dollars in illicit money through the casinos, but the 44-year-old met an abrupt end last Friday. While dining at a Japanese restaurant in Richmond, British Columbia, with an associate, he was gunned down and died from the ambush attack.

Like something out of a suspense or mob-themed movie, Jian and the associate, Paul King Jin, were sitting at a table at the Manzo Itamae Japanese Restaurant at Garden City last Friday when the attack occurred. Both men were thought to have been involved in casino money-laundering and were being investigated by the government for their possible roles. However, that investigation, Operation E-Pirate, fell apart due to the mishandling of data and both suspects were let go. 

Jian and Caixuan Qin, his wife, were behind the Silver International casino, the property that was allegedly nothing more than a front for drug cartels looking to legitimize capital. The property would receive the funds, issue credits and vouchers through a network of Chinese banks, and then use the money to give Chinese high rollers credit for gambling. 

The casino, along with certain real estate holdings, is said to have facilitated the transition of dirty money to clean worth about $250 million each year, but everything came to an embarrassing halt when, in November 2018, the personal details of a police informant were “accidentally” released during disclosure as Jian and Qin stood trial, and the judge dismissed the case, fearing that continuing the high-profile trial would put the informant’s life at risk.

Interest in digital currencies is still growing, and while many people already know about Bitcoin, they’re figuring out how it works into their daily lives. At Day 3 of SiGMA America’s, the focus was on all things blockchain technology, and SiGMA’s Jessica Walker spoke with CoinTelegraph’s Head of Research Demelza Hays to see what stories Latam cares most about.

With more people at home in 2020 and a growing interest in digital currencies, CoinTelegraph has had a banner year, but maybe not for the stories you’d expect. “We’ve seen basically a general uptrend and a spike in July.” Hays said. “We actually had a bike spike when there was an article published about the combination of cryptocurrencies and religion. And so that article was about the Book of Revelation according to St. John and basically how cryptocurrencies are basically in line with what the Bible talks about concerning money. This was an article that went viral in Mexico, it had over 1 million views.”

But with so many trying to secure financial security in South America, the usual topics have also done very well. “On a completely separate topic in Brazil, we had an article that had over 1 million views,” Hays said. “That was regarding the Central Bank’s switch to instant payments in Brazil.”

Walker asked what trends Hays has observed in the direction of the industry. With more businesses looking at serious blockchain usage, Hays said the industry is growing up fast. “The industry is maturing so quickly because there’s an audience for [research reports],” she said. “There’s an audience of people that are traditionally from the financial sector, they are used to research reports, and they now want to understand this new asset class within the old glasses, the old framework that they’re used to.”

The discussion around digital currencies has increasingly moved on from what they’re capable of, to what governments will allow them to do. At Latin America considers what regulations should be imposed in the industry, SiGMA America’s Virtual Summit’s Day 3 was all about blockchain developments, and how digital currencies are legislated definitely came up.

Just as with gambling, Latam’s approach to digital currency regulation has been very heterogenous. “Latin America is a very interesting place to be and an interesting region to follow because not every country thinks alike, and it’s a nice way to see how people try different approaches and different solutions to the same issue,” said Jose Antonio Lanz Diaz, Writer and Editor at Decrypt Media. “ Let’s see how they work.”

Unfortunately, as so many scams have entered the industry, either through initial coin offerings (ICOs) in 2017 or through DeFi now, regulation has had to focus on keeping customers safe before all else. Regulation, said Etienne Luquet, CEO of Legal Lab, “has been a solution for just making people safe in their property and their money, because you know a lot of restrictions are in place in some of these countries. At the same time, Latin America has been a great laboratory because you know there are some special circumstances.”

Mexico is a great example of a country trying to come to grips with how to regulate the industry. Unfortunately, exchanges that aren’t focused on providing any real value to customers, but rather in pumping up useless assets, have been very adept at finding loopholes.

With three days full of Bitcoin content, CoinGeek Live is set to deliver loads of the latest information you could want to find about digital currency and blockchain technology. If you’re new to the industry, and you’re not sure what this information could mean to your business, we have a little primer to help ease you in.

On Day 1, make sure to catch the opening remarks from Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen, who always does a great job of spelling out the vision of Bitcoin SV (BSV), and how it can enhance your business. He kicks off the day at 9:05 am EDT.

Immediately following him at 9:25 am EDT is CTO and Technical Director of nChain Steve Shadders, to speak on the latest Technical Updates of Bitcoin SV. There’s a good chance he speaks about how Bitcoin SV has now moved from micro-payments to nano-payments with the Rails update, opening up a new world of possibilities and use cases.

How does BSV achieve nearly instant payments with almost no fees? Better Payments: Improving the Consumer Experience with Bitcoin at 10:25 am EDT will look at how BSV’s infrastructure has been built to massively scale, reduce network congestion, and enable frictionless peer to peer transactions.

Just a little more than a week ago, the Asian arm of Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Sands China, cut a deal with its creditors to ease up on certain requirements tied to its credit lines. Needing some relief from the revenue black hole caused by COVID-19, it wants to ensure it had some extra padding to cover its financial commitments. Despite reporting that it has almost $2.5 billion in liquid assets and a reported $4.2 billion at the end of the second quarter, has followed in the footsteps of its subsidiary, and has now secured its own deal with lenders designed to rewrite certain arrangements following an agreement it made with them just over a year ago. 

LVS filed a notice (pdf) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week, indicating that it and the Bank of Nova Scotia, along with other lenders, had agreed to make changes to the terms of a $1.5-billion revolving line of credit. Going forward, the Sheldon Adelson-led company has to keep liquidity of at least $350 million, recorded on the last day of each month, instead of a consolidated leverage ratio lower than 4:1. As was the case with the Sands China arrangement, though, dividend payments are now off the table unless LVS keeps over $1 billion in liquidity “on a pro forma basis” after having paid the dividend. 

The SEC filing explains, “Pursuant to the Amendment, the Existing Revolving Credit Agreement was amended to (a) remove the requirement for the Borrower to maintain a maximum consolidated leverage ratio of 4.00:1.00 as of the last day of any fiscal quarter of the Company during the period commencing on October 31, 2020, through and including December 31, 2021 (such period, the “Relevant Period”); (b) include a requirement for the Borrower to maintain a minimum liquidity of $350 million as of the last day of each month during the Relevant Period; (c) include a requirement for the Borrower to deliver a liquidity certificate to the Administrative Agent within seven business days of the last day of each month during the Relevant Period; and (d) include a limitation on the Borrower’s ability to declare or pay any dividend or other distribution during the period commencing on the Closing Date, through and including December 31, 2021, unless liquidity is greater than $1.0 billion on a pro forma basis after giving effect to such dividend or distribution.”

Given the fact that, previously, the annual dividend payout hovered around $3.16 per share, shareholders most likely won’t be too pleased with the arrangement. Based on that amount, the casino operator will be able to hang onto about $2.34 billion if it doesn’t make any payout, but Adelson most certainly wants to do whatever he can to restore the dividends. He and his wife, Miriam, are the biggest benefactors of the dividend payments since their combined 397 million shares equals around $1.25 billion.

After Suncity Group Holdings locked in a very lucrative agreement and some additional funding for the project, it got to work on the development of a new casino resort project in the Philippines. The property, located at the Westside City Project in Manila, is supported by a 45-year operating agreement given to the junket operator by Travellers International Hotel Group, and the first shovels have already started making way for the massive property. GGRAsia sent a request for an update to Suncity to find out when the resort might be ready, and the company responded by indicating that everything is on track for the initial phase to be completed on time, toward the end of 2022. Other phases of the project will then follow. 

Suncity expects the hotel and casino to be ready in just a little over two years, with the rest of the amenities and facilities opening within a year after. This is similar to what the company announced this past June and explained to GGRAsia, “Whilst we are confident that we could stick to the grand opening schedule of Westside City Project in 2023, we would like to open the doors of the casino floor as early as possible, targeting 2022 year-end.” The initial groundbreaking had run into a couple of obstacles because of COVID-19 restrictions in Manila. 

Those restrictions are still causing some difficulty for Suncity, with the company indicating that no one, including company chairman Alvin Chau, has been able to take a trip to the Philippines to see how things are going. For now, the company can only rely on its people on the ground to stay on top of things and report all the progress that’s taking place. As soon as the travel restrictions are lifted, though, there’s a good possibility many of Suncity’s upper echelon will be taking a field trip to the Philippines.

Westside is part of Entertainment City, a massive, 297-acre “build-it-and-they-will-come” scheme in the Philippines modeled after the success of Macau’s gaming market in the Cotai district. The biggest difference is currently centered on the overall progress of the development, which has had to deal with COVID-19 as it was trying to gain traction. In contrast, Cotai has a solid track record of operations and will be able to rebound a little easier. 

Derek Stevens was right. The man behind the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate casinos in Las Vegas predicted this past summer that the launch of his latest project, Circa, would take place well ahead of schedule. Given the fact that this is the first brand-new casino to dot the Vegas landscape in 40 years, his forecast may have been seen more as whimsical fantasy than anything else at the time. However, by the end of the day yesterday, it became perfectly clear that he was right. Initially scheduled to open this coming December, Circa could be open before the end of October. 

The last remaining piece of the puzzle fell into place yesterday when the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) got together for one of its regular meetings. On the agenda was the license application Stevens had submitted for Circa, and the commission listened intently to him as he made his case on a virtual video call. He also showed off a short video on his new dream, adding details about the amenities and grandeur the property will offer. 

The NGC was apparently hooked, as it unanimously voted yes to the license request. Next up, Circa will launch its casino operations toward the end of next month, with large portions of the project, including most of its 777 hotel rooms, going live before the end of the year. The property, which spans an entire city block once occupied by the Las Vegas Club and other venues on the western end of the Fremont Street Experience, will include six restaurants, five bars, a large parking facility, six swimming pools and no kids – it’s designed to be an adults-only resort. 

It will also have a sportsbook that could make most sportsbooks look tiny. The three-story addition will reportedly have a 78-million-pixel-high-definition screen and be able to host up to 1,000 spectators – once the COVID-19 restrictions are completely dissolved – and is billed as the world’s largest sports gambling facility. This will also be a new, second home for the Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN), which will broadcast shows directly from a studio inside the property. VSiN, however, will continue to maintain its other studio at the South Point Casino, as well as its newest addition in Illinois. 

Philippines-based online gambling operators may not be fleeing the country in droves but the government’s online golden goose appears to have flown the coop, possibly for good.

On Thursday, a Philippine presidential spokesman Harry Roque tried to downplay the Finance Secretary’s Wednesday comments that Philippine Online Gaming Operators (POGO) were making a run for the border, opening up huge gaps in Manila’s commercial real estate sector as they shut down their customer support operations.

Roque told the press Thursday that there was “no mass exodus” of POGOs from the country. Roque claimed that only one gaming operator had actually left the country and that was because the Chinese government was probing it for funding demonstrators (presumably in Hong Kong).

Roque said the confusion arose because only “about 20 plus” POGO operators had been cleared by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to resume operations following the shutdown of the POGO industry this spring due to COVID-19. The BIR subsequently said POGOs could only resume operations if they paid their outstanding tax bills.