RWS fined S$95,000 by GRA for breaching AML rules again
Raphael Lim
GENTING Singapore’s wholly-owned subsidiary Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) was fined a total of S$95,000 between April 2022 and March 2023 for breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) rules.
According to the Gambling Regulatory Authority’s (GRA) annual report published online on Tuesday (Sep 26), RWS was fined for two breaches of the Casino Control (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Regulations during the past financial year ended March 2023.
The breaches relate to the casino operator’s failure to perform customer due diligence (CDD) measures and enhanced CDD measures.
Under the prevention of money laundering and terrorism regulations, casino operators are required to periodically review the adequacy of information it has obtained regarding its patrons and beneficial owners of patron accounts, and to ensure that the information is kept current.
The regulations also stipulate that casino operators perform enhanced CDD measures in relation to higher-risk patrons. This includes obtaining prior approval from a senior manager or executive before establishing dealings with higher‑risk patrons, or before continuing dealings with patrons who subsequently become higher‑risk ones.
The operator must also conduct enhanced monitoring of the transactions of higher‑risk patrons, based on materiality and risk. This includes increasing the number of controls applied; shortening the intervals between the application of controls; and identifying and examining patterns of transactions or unusual transactions.
RWS had been previously fined for breaches of regulations pertaining to the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing.
According to GRA’s website, the casino operator was also fined a total of S$200,000 in the financial year ended March 2022 for two instances of failing to perform CDD measures.
Last month, Genting Singapore reported net profit of S$276.7 million for its first half ended June. This was an increase from S$84.4 million in the prior year.
Revenue for the group grew 63 per cent over the same period to S$1.1 billion, with around 70 per cent coming from the gaming segment.
Shares of Genting Singapore closed at S$0.85 on Wednesday, up 1.2 per cent.
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