{"id":777028080,"date":"2025-06-20T10:51:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T13:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777028080"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:41:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:41:56","slug":"sri-lanka-moves-to-regulate-junkets-ahead-of-first-integrated-casino-resort-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/sri-lanka-moves-to-regulate-junkets-ahead-of-first-integrated-casino-resort-launch","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka moves to regulate junkets ahead of first integrated casino resort launch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The revised gambling bill now includes provisions to license junket operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka.- The bill to establish a Gambling Regulatory Authority now includes a framework to license and oversee junket operators just weeks ahead of the anticipated opening of Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s City of Dreams casino in Colombo. Earlier drafts were criticised for omitting junket oversight<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy minister of finance and planning Harshana Suriyapperuma confirmed the inclusion of junket licensing in the bill while addressing Parliament. He said the legislation was modelled on international standards from jurisdictions such as Singapore. \u201cThis has been promised for a long time, but the current administration has finally done it,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original version of the 48-page Gambling Authority Act<\/a>, published in May, outlined junket licensing but lacked enforceable regulations. This led to concern from the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance about potential vulnerabilities to money laundering and criminal exploitation, particularly from junket operators with links to Macau and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the bill, the government relaxed import restrictions on gaming equipmen, a move intended to support upcoming integrated resorts like the City of Dreams, the first of its kind in South Asia. Melco\u2019s Colombo project, in partnership with local conglomerate John Keells Holdings, is expected to launch in August. <\/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> Sri Lanka Central Bank warns junkets not addressed in Gambling Regulatory Authority bill<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The revised gambling bill now includes provisions to license junket operators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":25351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Sri Lanka's revised gambling bill now incorporates a robust framework for licensing and overseeing junket operators, addressing prior regulatory gaps and concerns regarding money laundering. This legislative update, modeled on international standards, precedes the anticipated August launch of Melco Resorts & Entertainment's City of Dreams integrated resort in Colombo, a joint venture with John Keells Holdings.","focusai_entities":"Melco Resorts & Entertainment, City of Dreams, Harshana Suriyapperuma, Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance, John Keells Holdings","focusai_location":"Sri Lanka, Colombo, Singapore, Macau, Australia, South Asia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.95), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Junket AML Framework?","query":"What specific provisions within the revised Gambling Authority Act address the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance's concerns regarding money laundering and criminal exploitation by junket operators, particularly those with historical links to Macau and Australia?"},{"label":"Regulatory Enforcement Timeline?","query":"Beyond licensing, what is the proposed enforcement mechanism and timeline for the Gambling Regulatory Authority to ensure ongoing compliance and mitigate systemic risks associated with junket operations?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16334],"tags":[24611,24800,24799],"class_list":["post-777028080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legislation-news","category-south-asia-news","tag-city-of-dreams-sri-lanka","tag-gambling-authority-act","tag-sri-lanka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028080","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777028080"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777028132,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028080\/revisions\/777028132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777028080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777028080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777028080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}