{"id":777028487,"date":"2025-07-01T09:10:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T12:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777028487"},"modified":"2026-04-21T21:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:24:11","slug":"think-tank-calls-for-redraft-of-sri-lanka-gambling-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/think-tank-calls-for-redraft-of-sri-lanka-gambling-bill","title":{"rendered":"Think tank calls for redraft of Sri Lankan gambling bill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Advocata Institute says the proposed Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill undermines regulator independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka.- A think tank has called for a rethink on Sri Lanka’s draft Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill<\/a>. The Advocata Institute, based in Colombo, has called for the government to withdraw and fully redraft the proposed legislation, claiming that its current form grants excessive power to the Ministry of Finance and fails to ensure the independence and effectiveness of the regulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill was published in May ahead of the much-anticipated launch of the City of Dreams Colombo casino<\/a>, which is expected in early August. While Advocata agrees that a regulatory framework is urgently needed, it warns that rushing through flawed legislation could damage the industry\u2019s integrity, reduce investor confidence and allow corruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill gives the Minister of Finance powers to appoint the director general and board members an issue binding directives, which Advocata says is inconsistent with global norms. It recommends modelling the structure after Sri Lanka\u2019s Securities and Exchange Commission, where appointments require approval by the Constitutional Council and operational autonomy is protected by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudaraka Ariyaratne, research consultant at Advocata said: \u201cWithout independence, we risk creating a framework that lacks credibility, is vulnerable to political interference, and cannot deliver on its mandate,. In its current form, the bill doesn\u2019t create a regulator. It creates a proxy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocata also criticised the bill\u2019s lack of oversight on junket operations<\/a> and financial transparency, the absence of revenue-tracing mechanisms, the size of penalties for violations, and the bill\u2019s failure to empower the regulator to cap the number of operators or gaming positions. It also noted the exclusion of the state-run lottery sector from oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocata has urged the government to consult with industry stakeholders, civil society and the general public. \u201cThe Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill, while timely and necessary, must be reworked to ensure it establishes a truly independent, empowered, and credible institution,\u201d Advocata concluded.<\/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 Advocata Institute says the proposed Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill undermines regulator independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777027001,"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 Advocata Institute criticizes Sri Lanka's proposed Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill, asserting it undermines regulatory independence by granting excessive power to the Ministry of Finance. The think tank warns that the current draft, lacking oversight on junkets and financial transparency, could damage industry integrity and investor confidence ahead of the City of Dreams Colombo launch. It advocates for a redraft ensuring an autonomous, credible regulatory body.","focusai_entities":"Advocata Institute, Ministry of Finance, Sudaraka Ariyaratne, City of Dreams Colombo, Sri Lanka's Securities and Exchange Commission, Constitutional Council","focusai_location":"Sri Lanka, Colombo","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Independence Alignment?","query":"What specific amendments are required to align Sri Lanka's Gambling Regulatory Authority Bill with international best practices for regulatory independence and governance frameworks?"},{"label":"Junket Oversight Impact?","query":"How might the proposed bill's deficiencies regarding junket oversight and financial transparency impact Sri Lanka's FATF standing and broader capital market attractiveness?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,16334],"tags":[24611,24413,225,24799],"class_list":["post-777028487","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-regulatory-authority","tag-legislation","tag-sri-lanka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028487","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=777028487"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777028512,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777028487\/revisions\/777028512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777027001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777028487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777028487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777028487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}