Mastercard has been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. The company has been fined €570 million ($648.4 million) by the European Union (EU) after it was found to be keeping lower fees inaccessible from merchants for cross-border payments.

The European Commission announced the fine through a press release on January 22. Margrethe Vestager, the Commissioner in charge of competition policy said in the release:

“European consumers use payment cards every day, when they buy food or clothes or make purchases online. By preventing merchants from shopping around for better conditions offered by banks in other Member States, Mastercard’s rules artificially raised the costs of card payments, harming consumers and retailers in the EU.”

The Commission does not divulge how much of the heightened fees brought in for the credit card company, although for a fee of over half a billion euros, it had to be significant. As Mastercard cooperated with the EU, they were given a 10% discount on the fine.

Options are starting to narrow for a Hokkaido Integrated Resort (IR) bid. Tomakomai City has been identified as the preferred site for an IR by an advisory panel to Hokkaido’s prefecture government.

GGRAsia reports that this does not confirm Hokkaido will be confirming a casino bid for Tomakomai, but rather that it has “priority status” as a casino host site. It received this status due to its proximity to the airport and the tourist hub of Sapporo.

Japan is set to award three sites IR licenses later this year. By designating Tomakomai City as a preferred location for one of these bids, Hokkaido is delivering great news to several potential IR partners, and starting to close the door on others.

Earlier this month, Hard Rock made their plans known for a Tomakomai City IR, with monorail access to the airport, hotels, theatres, spas, and a focus on authentic indigenous experiences. Caesars has also announced their intention to build in Tomakomai, focusing instead of the job creation their IR will provide, and their history of collaboration with local government.

The state regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) anticipates another year of record highs in gross gaming revenue (GGR), as the amount of gaming activity in Asia is poised to increase.

The agency’s CEO, Andrea Domingo, told Reuters that she was projecting a GGR of PHP217 billion ($4.12 billion) in 2019, which would be about 8.5% higher than that achieved last year.

She based her analysis on the fact that “[a]ll the integrated casino resorts are doing very well” at present.

Most of the large-scale casinos in Metro Manila are based in the Entertainment City complex, overlooking Manila Bay: City of Dreams Manila, Okada Manila, and Solaire Resort & Casino. Another casino resort in the area, Westside City, is owned by Resorts World Manila operator Travellers International and is scheduled to open in 2021.

2018 was a good year for Macau’s tourism industry. According to a report released by the city’s Statistics and Census Service (SCS), visitation to Macau increased 9.8% last year compared to 2017, with 35.8 million tourists descending on the city. In 2017, Macau set a new record high for visitation when 32.61 million tourist arrivals were recorded, making last year’s number a new personal best.

The average length of stay per trip was 1.2 days, consistent with previous years. The number of visitors arriving for overnight visits increased by 7.2% to almost 18.5 million, which accounted for almost 51.7% of the total visitor arrivals. It also set a new record in terms of quantity. Same-day visitation was 17.31 million, which was an increase of 12.7%.

Last year, 18.9% more visitors arrived by land compared to 2017. There were 22.15 million, with 1.05 million traveling on the newly opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Those numbers confirm the assertion made last month by the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, who said that the bridge had played a significant role in the increase of land travelers. The bridge only opened last October.

The number of visitors arriving by air also increased. The segment grew 20.1% over the previous year’s figures, reaching 3.3 million. Land and air arrivals appear to be the favorite methods, as sea arrivals declined 7.8% year-on-year, declining to 10.36 million.

Japan is making progress toward introducing the first steps of its newly approved integrated resort (IR) industry. While it has yet to launch the official bidding process to select destination cities and casino partners, it is putting in place the underlying framework that will govern the activity. In its latest move, it has announced the policies for how the gambling operations will be allowed to advertise in the country, and the approach is strict.

All advertisements for casino activity will only be allowed in the international terminals of the country’s airports and seaports. The official rule will be added to a government ordinance that is expected to be drafted this March. The restriction to prohibit advertisements from public view and relegate them to only the terminals is designed to help prevent gambling addiction.

Advertisements are authorized in areas such as immigration and customs of the international terminals. Other locations where advertising is often found, such as railways, buses and tourist information centers, are strictly off-limits to gambling ads.

Japan passed its IR Promotion Act during an extended session last July. Since then the IR Promotion Council has worked diligently to create a framework that would help control the activity and prevent problem gambling.

Virginia has long tried to turn its back on the gambling industry, but progress can seldom be stopped – especially when serious amounts of money are involved. The idea of casinos within the state’s borders have been brought up in the past, but have routinely been smothered by objections. There is now a light at the end of the tunnel for the gaming industry, looking to expand into Virginia, as a committee in the state’s Senate has approved a bill that could open the doors to casinos. However, it is still a long road ahead and that light at the end of the tunnel is nothing more than a faint flickering.

The bill was sponsored in part by Senator Louise Lucas. It would allow referendums to be held in cities such as Norfolk, Danville, Bristol, Richmond and Portsmouth in order for these to consider allowing casinos. The Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, which is part of the General Assembly, passed the bill by a vote of 9-3-1 this past Monday. From here, the bill goes before the Senate Finance Committee for further review and to consider its financial and regulatory implications.

While the bill may be on the right path, there are several roadblocks ahead. Virginia’s governor, Ralph Northam, has expressed his opinion, as have several state legislators, that he would be opposed to putting his signature to any gambling bill in order to provide more time to conduct comprehensive studies. He would like to see at least one of these studies to begin this year.

The state’s Finance Secretary, Aubrey Layne, recognizes the importance of the bill and said that the administration is prepared to watch its progress. But, she added that the legislation is more complicated. She said, “I’m not saying the governor will be for it or against it — but it’s not a study. It’s a big decision. The General Assembly ought to understand we have significant issues to deal with.”

This past Saturday, the casino at the Ponte 16 resort in Macau suffered a 10-hour suspension of gaming activity after losing power to one of its uninterrupted power supplies. Fortunately, the stoppage didn’t result in any major revenue losses for the company, but now a second casino is reporting that it, too, was without power for several hours on the same day.

GGRAsia reports that it has received confirmation from Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau that the Casino Golden Dragon had to suspend gambling activity for five hours on Saturday for “power-related issues.” The casino is located close to the Macau Maritime Ferry Terminal of Macau’s Outer Harbour area on the peninsula.

Gaming was shut down from 10 AM to 3 PM local time with the bureau, which is known as the DICJ for its Portuguese acronym, explaining to GGRAsia in an email, “On January 19, 2019, apart from a power outage that took place at Ponte 16 casino, Golden Dragon’s casino also had a temporary suspension starting from 10am on that day due to power issues; but operation at Golden Dragon casino had resumed at 3pm on the same day.”

The DICJ added, “The gaming operators need to submit a detailed report to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau to explain the situation when they need a suspension for their gaming equipment or gaming venues. The bureau will then conduct the corresponding review on the matter and ensure all gaming activities are in place legally and fairly.”