{"id":20716,"date":"2021-07-27T16:28:43","date_gmt":"2021-07-27T16:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=20716"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T20:12:14","slug":"cnmi-reaches-out-to-online-gaming-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/cnmi-reaches-out-to-online-gaming-operators","title":{"rendered":"CNMI reaches out to online gaming operators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) wants to reach out to online gaming operators in case its proposed Internet Gaming Act 2021 <\/strong>is finally approved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Northern Mariana Islands.- The CNMI wants to hear the opinion of potential online gaming operators regarding House Bill 22-47<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew Yeom<\/a>, Casino Commission executive director, said: “Internet gaming can be a great thing for the Commonwealth if done correctly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mariana’s Variety, Yeom said: “I can assure you there are many ways to go about it. But I am not the one to tell how the operation is set up because I am not here to give that information\u2026. I am here as a regulator.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June, Yeom warned that the CCC was running out of money<\/strong> and that the $2m it received from the CNMI government wasn’t enough due to the indefinite suspension of Imperial Pacific International<\/a>‘s licence. The casino regulator<\/a> has announced 20 layoffs without cause due to the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representative Tina Sablan <\/strong>has raised concerns about the proposed Internet Gaming Act 2021<\/a>, arguing that internet gaming could lead to an increase in money laundering.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sablan also noted that the bill had been requested by Imperial Pacific International (IPI)<\/a>, which is currently facing the indefinite suspension of its gaming licence<\/strong>. She claimed it would only benefit the casino operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said: \u201cThere are serious concerns that are raised by this internet gaming bill that were concerns in the last legislature. Those issues have not gone away and they are the subject of investigation<\/strong> right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, former vice-speaker Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero<\/strong> has argued online gaming has no greater risk <\/strong>and could help generate revenue for the CNMI following the closure of the casino industry for many months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Potential bidders interested in Saipan<\/strong> casino licence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yeom has said that several bidders have shown interest in operating in Saipan<\/strong> if Imperial Pacific International\u2019s licence is revoked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeom said he expects IPI could resolve its issues<\/strong> but that if that doesn\u2019t happen, he will advance with the possibility of revoking IPI\u2019s licence. Asked about IPI\u2019s building in Garapan<\/a> and what would happen if IPI\u2019s assets are liquidated, Yeom said it would depend on whether IPI\u2019s casino licence is revoked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) wants to reach out to online gaming operators in case its proposed Internet Gaming Act 2021 is finally approved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":20206,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is actively soliciting feedback from potential online gaming operators regarding its proposed Internet Gaming Act 2021, aiming to diversify revenue streams. This initiative coincides with the CNMI Casino Commission's severe financial strain due to the indefinite suspension of Imperial Pacific International's license, raising lawmaker concerns about potential money laundering risks and the bill's perceived benefit to IPI. The Commission is also exploring options for new casino operators in Saipan should IPI's license be permanently revoked.","focusai_entities":"Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Andrew Yeom, Casino Commission, Imperial Pacific International (IPI), Representative Tina Sablan, Lorenzo Deleon Guerrero","focusai_location":"Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, Garapan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"CNMI iGaming Fiscal Impact?","query":"What are the projected GGR and NGR contributions from the proposed Internet Gaming Act 2021 for the CNMI, and how do these figures compare to the Casino Commission's current financial deficit and the $2m government allocation?"},{"label":"IPI License Revocation Process?","query":"What specific governance frameworks and legal precedents would guide the revocation of Imperial Pacific International's license, and what is the estimated timeline for the formal tender process for new operator bids for the Saipan casino concession?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,156,158],"tags":[23911,4138],"class_list":["post-20716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20716","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=20716"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20756,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20716\/revisions\/20756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}