B.C Casinos Claim Revenues Dip Due To Anti-Money Laundering Laws
Casino operators in British Columbia have claimed that the new anti-money laundering laws that were recently introduced in Canadian province have had a negative impact on gaming revenues. The two casinos that claimed a dip in revenue were the River Rock and Parq casinos which are located in the Lower Mainland.
In August, financial results that were released showed that Great Canadian Gaming Corporation suffered declines in revenue over the first half of 2018. They partially attributed the decline to a drop in earnings from casino tables at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. According to Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, the decline is due to the new rule that forces casinos to disclose sources of cash deposits or bearer bonds that exceed $10,000. Great Canadian’s revenue fell by five percent which equates to $6.6 million in the same period.
The Parq casino’s main shareholder, Dundee Corp., also blamed the new anti-money laundering laws for a decline in their revenue in the first half of 2018. The new rules came into effect in December 2017 at the recommendations that arose from an independent review that was conducted by former RCMP deputy commissioner, Peter German.
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Why Was There A Review?
The B.C. government ordered the review due to concerns of high-rolling Chinese VIPs buying chips with huge wads of money that could possibly have been “proceeds of crime”. A confidential report that the B.C. Lotteries Corp. had commissioned outlined those concerns. It was found that the River Rock Casino accepted $13.5 million in $20 bills in July 2015. German concluded in his final report that casinos in the Lower Mainland had turned into “laundromats” for organized crime. The laundered money came from illegal enterprises such as drug trafficking and shady real estate deals.
Government Stands Firm
B.C.’s Attorney General, David Eby, offers no apologies for putting the new anti-money laundering rules in place. He said that suspicious transactions at casinos throughout the province was down to $200,000 as of March which is a very significant drop from July 2015 when it is estimated that $20 million worth of suspicious transactions took place.
He went on to say that the government was aware that implementing the strict measures would cause some revenue reductions. Eby also said that the government is urging Canadian casinos to focus more on lower-stakes gaming tables and move away from the high-roller tables which are impacted more by the new rules.
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