The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore has launched, taking over the previous regulatory body, the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore, for the entirety of the city state. The act has been expanded and renamed to reflect changes, but ultimately unifies gambling regulation in the region under the one authority.
The Singapore government said in a press release that the move “allows the Government to more effectively stay ahead of technological and gambling trends, respond more adequately to emerging gambling products, and take a more holistic and coherent approach to gambling policies.”
Minister of State Desmond Tan said, “Gambling regulation is currently overseen by various Government agencies. For example, CRA regulates casinos; the Gambling Regulatory Unit in MHA today regulates online gambling services and fruit machines; and the Singapore Totalisator Board governs Singapore Pools’ physical gambling services.”
“There will be synergies from consolidating gambling legislation and regulation. As the single regulator for all forms of gambling, the Gambling Regulatory Authority will be able to pool resources and expertise together to deal with the issue.”
“The establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority will be resource neutral across the Government. Manpower will be transferred together with the transfer of function.”
“This will not lead to an excess of employees. In addition to overseeing existing regulatory regimes, the Gambling Regulatory Authority will also oversee new regulatory regimes, such as the new licensing regime for gambling in private establishments and class-licence regimes for low-risk gambling products.”
