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Casino still poses money Laundering Risk to Cambodia

Cambodia's casino sector still poses a risk to Cambodia in combating money laundering and financing terrorism. That's according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global financial watchdog based in Paris, France.

The FATF said in an announcement last month that Cambodia remained on the watchdog's list of jurisdictions for "strategic anti-money laundering [AML] and anti-terrorism financing [CFT] flaws." However, the FATF noted that after a meeting with FATF officials in February, Cambodia had "taken steps to improve the AML/CFT regime, including starting off-site supervision of the real estate and casino sectors."

The FATF's latest document pointed out that Cambodia should "continue to work to implement its action plan to address strategic deficiencies," including those related to its casino industry.

The 10-item "must-do" list for Cambodian authorities mentioned by the FATF included "implementation of risk-based supervision of real estate and casinos" and "implementation of sector-specific outreach to casinos." Other measures included improving the training of law enforcement authorities, strengthening Cambodia's legal framework on money laundering and terrorism financing, and strengthening regulatory analysis of suspected transaction reports.

Local media Khmer Times reported earlier this year that Cambodian authorities had granted a total of 163 casino licenses nationwide through April. A total of 91 licenses, most of them, were for casinos in Preah Sihanouk province, where the seaside town of Sihanoukville is located.

Sihanoukville has been an expanding gaming hub in Cambodia. While much media attention has recently been focused on the issue of casino streaming services based in the region known to target Chinese customers abroad, Sihanoukville also boasts many brick and mortar casino projects. Many projects have been linked to Chinese investment in stock market filings and media coverage.

Reports of impending casino restrictions in Cambodia have been circulating for several years. In June 2014, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported that a draft of the "National Casino Act" would be completed that year.

The current license and these license conditions are issued by the authorities on a case-by-case basis.

A study by the U.N. Drugs and Crime Agency released in July found that weak law enforcement and lax regulations in Southeast Asian casinos provided criminal organizations with ready channels to launder illicit profits, including drug trafficking

BY: 메이저사이트

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