China cracks down on web gaming

CHINA: A coalition of government departments in China has launched a crackdown on internet gambling.

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Zhejiang will be the areas most heavily policed, in a bid to 'purify the cyber environment.'

Local government departments will be asked to strictly monitor online gaming operators.

China's police busted a total of 347,000 gambling cases in 2006 and seized US$445m. The need for gambling restrictions in China became news in January 2005 after a senior government official lost over $30,000 in public funds during trips to a North Korean casino.

By the end of 2005, a draft bill that would amend the criminal law by increasing the maximum prison term for casino operators
from three years to 10 years was submitted to the National People's Congress Standing Committee for a first hearing.

In March 2006, a new law banned Chinese citizens younger than 18 from internet cafés, discos and karaoke bars, and prohibited government staff from running entertainment venues.

Gambling was outlawed on the mainland in 1949 when New China was founded. However, casino gambling is legal in Macau, a small territory on the southern coast of China, and remote gambling may soon be.

Gamblingcompliance.com reports that the Macau Gaming Commission has set out policy plans for a new remote licensing regime open to all applicants.

According to the report, Jorge Oliveira, Macau's Commissioner for Gaming, outlined at the Pacific Congress on Igaming new proposals designed to meet online operator's demands for a licensing jurisdiction in the region.

"These are not features that have yet been passed, but we intend to regulate everyone, anyone who accepts bets, including betting exchanges, will be regulated, and the regime will be open to all," Oliveira said.

Online gambling is currently prohibited in Macau, but a full-scale review of the region's gaming laws is expected to begin next month.

Feathers ruffled over CAP decision

UK: British culture secretary Tessa Jowell is facing a possible revolt in Parliament over the Casino Advisory Panel's decision to award the UK's first supercasino to Manchester.

Around 100 MPs have signed a Commons motion backing Blackpool's bid for the regional casino, stating that the decision to award the licence to Manchester be examined by Parliament.

The Daily Mail newspaper reported that Jowell was "considering the arguments for appointing an ad hoc committee of MPs to look again at the issue," although the Department for Culture, Media and Sport insisted that it remained “strongly minded” to support Manchester.

Jowell is due to put the Casino Advisory Panel's recommendations before Parliament next month. The final decision must be approved by votes in both Houses of Parliament.

Uthingo attacks Gidani investigation

SOUTH AFRICA: National lottery operator Uthingo has accused Trade Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa of not satisfying himself that the investigation into the probity of new lottery operator Gidani was properly undertaken.

Uthingo's advocate, Jeremy Gauntlett SC, told the Pretoria High Court this week that the minister relied on a security clearance from the National Intelligence Agency on Gidani, a reliance Gauntlett referred to as an unauthorised delegation of duties by Mpahlwa.

The Lotteries Act said that in considering whether to grant the licence, the minister should take into account whether any person to manage the business was a fit and proper person to do so.

Optimism shines through in IMA poll

GERMANY: In an independent poll conducted during the IMA fair last month, more than 50 per cent of visitors said they expect a

slight to strong upturn for the industry in future, while 51.8 per cent of those surveyed described their own business as doing 'very well' or 'well.'

According to Reed Exhibitions, which organises the trade show, more than half of visitors came to IMA with concrete investment projects. “Certainly, the new Gambling Ordinance that has been in force since mid-2006 was one reason for the high level of orders,” said IMA boss Petra Lassahn.

“After one year without an IMA, visitors could see a large variety of new machines from the categories of gambling and

amusement machines, touchscreen games, driving simulators or sports games machines such as billiards, darts and kiddie rides,” Lassahn continued.

“With these novelties the exhibitors scored a great success with visitors. The possibility to see new products and trends was one of the main reasons for coming to the fair and a majority of visitors (59 per cent) said their expectations in this respect had been fulfilled.”

The move to Düsseldorf proved the right decision. After several years of stagnation, IMA recorded a considerable rise in visitor numbers again. A total of 8,384 trade visitors were welcomed in Düsseldorf, compared to the 6,560 visitors in 2005.

Almost 40 per cent of visitors (39.8 per cent) from Germany travelled more than 300km to the fair, more than 30 per cent between 100 and 300km (32.8 per cent).

Sun International earnings up 23 per cent

SOUTH AFRICA: Sun International has reported a rise in both revenue and profit for the first half of fiscal 2007, bolstered by a strong performance across most of the leisure and gambling group's business units.

Revenue for the Sandton-based firm totalled US$475.7m, up 15 per cent on the first half of fiscal 2006. Improved margins resulted in a 23 per cent increase in EBITDA to $167.9m

Looking ahead, Sun International CEO, David Coutts-Trotter, said that strong growth in casino revenue should continue into the second half of the year, while the group’s hotels and resorts should benefit from the ongoing growth in inbound tourism.

Source: IGI