Japanese ruling party okays bill proposal

Japan’s the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito Party is gearing up for an overhaul of the gambling legislation in the country. The 30% tax proposal the other day was a beginning. The government is now planning to introduce further measures.

Apart from setting a 30 per cent tax for casino operations, the government has also proposed a ceiling of three for the maximum number of legal venues under a company. In the latest move, members of agreed upon establishing casino entry fees of JPY6000 (US$57), the local press reports.

According to this week’s announcements, the highly-anticipated casinos would be able to be located in three different cities and the current legislation could be reviewed after the first seven years of legal casino operations in Japan. “The advance coordination of the ruling coalition on these matters makes it far more likely that the IR Implementation Bill will be passed in the current Diet session, scheduled to end on June 20,” explained the Japanese media.

The Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill is yet to be approved, but the Japanese government continues to look into the different requirements for operators and gamblers. The latest proposition involves demanding that companies report on customers who exchanged chips and cash worth €7700 (¥1 million) or more as part of anti-money laundering measures. An official poll revealed that 65.1 per cent of Japanese voters claimed to be against casino developments in the country, with only 26.6 per cent of residents voting in favour of the measure.