{"id":777027590,"date":"2025-06-10T04:55:19","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T07:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777027590"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:03:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T01:03:35","slug":"junket-operators-may-remain-outside-tax-in-sri-lankas-new-gambling-regulatory-authority-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/junket-operators-may-remain-outside-tax-in-sri-lankas-new-gambling-regulatory-authority-bill","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Central Bank warns junkets not addressed in Gambling Regulatory Authority bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Representatives from the Central Bank and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) attended a Committee on Public Finance session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka.- The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has warned that the draft bill to enact the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act<\/a> lacks detail on junket operators. According to the local media outlet The Sunday Times, representatives from the Central Bank and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) told a Committee on Public Finance session that the bill does not address the issue of taxation or the regulation of junket activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An FIU official said: “The casinos are already under the Inland Revenue’s revenue collection structures. Whether the junket operators will be included in that mechanism remains to be seen.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns were also raised about gambling on foreign cruise ships that dock in Sri Lankan waters due to the risk to local operators and gaps in anti-money laundering enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If approved, the Sri Lanka Gambling Regulatory Authority Act would alter the Horse Racing Betting Ordinance and Gambling Ordinance and repeal the Casino Ordinance, which are considered to be outdated. A new regulator would oversee all gambling, including online gambling and activities at sea and in the Colombo Port City, a new area built by reclaiming land on the western edge of the capital. It would also be responsible for collecting taxes from the sector and preventing illegal gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City of Dreams Sri Lanka saw a Phase I opening in Colombo October<\/a> with 687 rooms, restaurants and entertainment venues, including ballrooms and event and conference facilities. Phase II, with a 113-key Nuwa Hotel and gaming operations, is expected to open in the third quarter of this year. Bluehaven Services, a subsidiary of Melco Resort, has a 20-year licence effective from April 1, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Papara owner and 12 others arrested in Turkey in operation against illegal gambling<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Representatives from the Central Bank and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) attended a Committee on Public Finance session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777019851,"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 Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the FIU have raised concerns regarding the draft Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, specifically citing a lack of detail on junket operator taxation and regulation, alongside gaps in AML enforcement for foreign cruise ship gambling. The proposed legislation aims to establish a new comprehensive regulator for all gambling verticals, including online and activities within Colombo Port City, while repealing outdated ordinances. This regulatory overhaul impacts new market entrants like City of Dreams Sri Lanka, a Melco Resort subsidiary, which recently commenced operations.","focusai_entities":"Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Financial Intelligence Unit, Committee on Public Finance, The Sunday Times, Inland Revenue, Melco Resort, Bluehaven Services, Papara","focusai_location":"Sri Lanka, Colombo, Turkey","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.95), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Junket Regulation Amendments","query":"What specific amendments are anticipated to address the identified gaps in junket operator regulation and taxation within the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act?"},{"label":"AML Compliance Framework","query":"How will the new Gambling Regulatory Authority ensure robust AML\/CFT compliance across all gaming verticals, particularly concerning foreign cruise ship operations and the Colombo Port City development?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[24628,154,16334],"tags":[29,23911,1897],"class_list":["post-777027590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-legislation-news","category-south-asia-news","tag-casino","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-igaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027590","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=777027590"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777027602,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777027590\/revisions\/777027602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777019851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777027590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777027590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777027590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}