{"id":16809,"date":"2021-04-13T16:28:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T16:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=16809"},"modified":"2026-04-23T20:24:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T23:24:28","slug":"skycity-halts-dealings-with-junket-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/skycity-halts-dealings-with-junket-operators","title":{"rendered":"SkyCity halts dealings with junket operators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SkyCity Entertainment Group has taken the decision to stop dealing with junket operators after a strategic review into its International Business Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

New Zealand.-\u00a0SkyCity Entertainment Group<\/strong>\u00a0has announced that it will immediately\u00a0cease working with junket operators<\/strong>\u00a0as it introduces a revised operating model for its International Business Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SkyCity said it will now deal directly with international customers “after appropriate know your\u00a0customer and customer due diligence requirements\u00a0<\/strong>are satisfied.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\u00a0the company did not detail the reason for the decision <\/strong>to stop working with junket operators, it is believed to have been influenced by the inquiries into Crown Resorts on money laundering<\/strong> on other failings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February,\u00a0the Gaming and Wagering Commission (GWC) prohibited Crown Perth from conducting any junket, premium or privileged player activity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crown Resorts is facing inquiries into its\u00a0suitability to hold a casino gaming licence for Crown Perth<\/a> and for its Melbourne casino<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SkyCity said it would consult regulators in New Zealand and South Australia<\/strong>\u00a0concerning its revised operating model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Zealand bank launches gambling blocker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kiwibank is the first in the country to offer\u00a0a system that lets customers block payments to casinos and gaming websites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system was developed with the help of the Problem Gambling Foundation\u00a0<\/strong>and arrives after the Department of Internal Affairs reported\u00a0pokies (slot machines) set a new record in money spent from October to December 2020<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system allows\u00a0customers to ask for payment blocks\u00a0<\/strong>to be put on their cards via phone banking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SkyCity Entertainment Group has taken the decision to stop dealing with junket operators after a strategic review into its International Business Division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":16810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"SkyCity Entertainment Group has ceased all dealings with junket operators, transitioning to a direct international customer model with enhanced KYC\/CDD, a decision influenced by regulatory inquiries into Crown Resorts. Concurrently, Kiwibank in New Zealand has launched a gambling payment blocker for its customers, developed in collaboration with the Problem Gambling Foundation.","focusai_entities":"SkyCity Entertainment Group, Crown Resorts, Gaming and Wagering Commission (GWC), Kiwibank, Problem Gambling Foundation, Department of Internal Affairs","focusai_location":"New Zealand, South Australia, Perth, Melbourne","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (0.98), compliance_legal (0.97), operator_casino (0.92), payments_fraud_aml (0.93), investor_analyst (0.96), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.94)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"SkyCity NGR Impact?","query":"What is the projected financial impact on SkyCity Entertainment Group's Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) from the cessation of junket operations and the transition to a direct international customer model?"},{"label":"Regulatory Influence on Junkets?","query":"To what extent did specific regulatory findings or ongoing inquiries into Crown Resorts' suitability influence SkyCity's decision to immediately cease working with junket operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,157],"tags":[1137],"class_list":["post-16809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-business-news","tag-skycity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16809"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16845,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16809\/revisions\/16845"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}