Japans administration intends to formally create a governing organization in January of the following year to monitor the nation’s land-based gambling sector. The establishment of this body was initially planned for July of this year but has been postponed by half a year.
The commission will be headed by a five-person board and will eventually have a staff of 100, slightly exceeding the initial target of 95. The commission will consist of departments for financial regulation, regulatory supervision, planning, research, and general administration. It will be responsible for managing license applications for the three integrated resorts and for enforcing regulations and monitoring the market, including anti-money laundering responsibilities.
The rules passed in March were made public in September as part of a discussion period. Integrated resort managers must get a casino business permit to construct their gaming halls and then a casino facility service permit to run the location.
The casino facility’s space cannot be more than 3% of the total venue area.
After the discussion period, which ended on October 3, the government is finalizing the regulatory structure, which will include standards for choosing resort locations. Several places are possible candidates to host the facilities, including Tokyo, Yokohama, and Osaka.
The Casino Management Committee was initially expected to be announced in July, but its creation was postponed. The Japanese government has not given a reason for the postponement.
Once the committee is formed, the final rules could be released, with some news reports suggesting this could also happen in January 2020.
Since the location of the integrated resorts has not yet been decided, the process of choosing operators for each venue (with each facility expected to cost at least $10 billion to build) will also happen later, meaning no facilities are expected to open before 2025.
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