Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group has tapped gaming industry veteran Scott Kreeger to oversee the expansion of its flagship Galaxy Macau property.

This week, GEG announced that it had hired Kreeger, the former president and COO of the SLS Las Vegas casino, as its director of operations development, new resort. Kreeger, who stepped down from SLS on December 31, has also done stints with gaming operators MGM Resorts and Station Casinos.

News of Kreeger’s appointment came shortly after comments from Macau legislators regarding the future of foreign casino executives. A plenary session of Macau’s Legislative Assembly on Monday featured Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) director Wong Chi Hong detailing its progress in boosting the number of local residents in gaming industry management positions.

Macau’s original Five-Year Development Plan contained a goal of seeing local residents make up at least 85% of casino upper and middle management positions by 2020. DSAL figures showed the actual number hitting 84.8% in September 2016, and so the government had advanced its timetable for hitting the 85% target to sometime in 2017.

UK-listed gaming operator Rank Group’s digital division outperformed its retail operations in its fiscal H1 as the company preps the launch of new online slots and bingo brands.

Rank’s interim results for the six months ending December 31 show retail revenue essentially flat at £326.2m while digital operations gained 11% to £52.4m. Group earnings declined 5% to £59.7m and after-tax profits fell 17% to £35.4m, in part due to rising costs associated with the introduction of the National Living Wage.

Rank CEO Henry Birch said the company’s retail operations had experienced “challenging trading conditions” in H1 but the digital division “continues to grow strongly and there remains significant potential for this channel as we deliver improvements in H2.”

Most of the digital growth came courtesy of Grosvenorcasinos.com, which saw revenue jump 39% to £19.3m while the Meccabingo.com site was flat at £33.1m.

UK-listed gaming operator Rank Group’s digital division outperformed its retail operations in its fiscal H1 as the company preps the launch of new online slots and bingo brands.

Rank’s interim results for the six months ending December 31 show retail revenue essentially flat at £326.2m while digital operations gained 11% to £52.4m. Group earnings declined 5% to £59.7m and after-tax profits fell 17% to £35.4m, in part due to rising costs associated with the introduction of the National Living Wage.

Rank CEO Henry Birch said the company’s retail operations had experienced “challenging trading conditions” in H1 but the digital division “continues to grow strongly and there remains significant potential for this channel as we deliver improvements in H2.”

Most of the digital growth came courtesy of Grosvenorcasinos.com, which saw revenue jump 39% to £19.3m while the Meccabingo.com site was flat at £33.1m.

Bitcoin is giving Italian mobsters a legal way to enter the gambling industry.

That was the bold claim made by Lucrezia Ricchiuti, who is convinced that the popular digital currency can be linked to casino operations runs by the Italian mafia. Ricchiuti, member of the Democratic Party, believes that the rise of new payment methods like cryptocurrency will pave the way for Italy’s gambling industry to be used for tax evasion.

Italy’s current laws allow operators to open a gaming site that accepts bitcoin payments, but the policymaker said it’s a situation that needs to be addressed moving forward as it poses a “systemic risk.”

“First we must strengthen the barriers to entry in the public system of the games,” Ricchiuti said. “To do this it is necessary to broaden the scope of impediments both crimes against the requirements for participation in tenders or public procedures and with respect to the issue, renewal and maintenance of concessions on public games.”

Bitcoin is giving Italian mobsters a legal way to enter the gambling industry.

That was the bold claim made by Lucrezia Ricchiuti, who is convinced that the popular digital currency can be linked to casino operations runs by the Italian mafia. Ricchiuti, member of the Democratic Party, believes that the rise of new payment methods like cryptocurrency will pave the way for Italy’s gambling industry to be used for tax evasion.

Italy’s current laws allow operators to open a gaming site that accepts bitcoin payments, but the policymaker said it’s a situation that needs to be addressed moving forward as it poses a “systemic risk.”

“First we must strengthen the barriers to entry in the public system of the games,” Ricchiuti said. “To do this it is necessary to broaden the scope of impediments both crimes against the requirements for participation in tenders or public procedures and with respect to the issue, renewal and maintenance of concessions on public games.”