Japan’s casino regulatory body, the Casino Administration Committee, will be established on 7 January 2020, the government has announced.
While the original plan was to establish the committee by 1 July 2019, it was delayed at the time for a variety of reasons, including societal concerns about increased problem gambling. The IR Development Act will be established by 26 January.
The committee will oversee casino licensing and operations as an external bureau of the cabinet. It will also be responsible for administrative procedures such as revoking licenses in cases of violations of the law. It will be comprised of one committee chair and four members and will likely require approval of the diet. Members will serve terms of five years.
Japan has promised that its IR industry will have the most stringent casino regulations in the world and the Casino Administration Committee will have full review and regulatory powers to ensure this.
The licensing procedure will include strict background checks for key personnel. Nevada and other leading casino jurisdictions will serve as a reference point for how these background investigations will be conducted.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced that the second set of public comments would be summarized in mid-November and the Basic Policy would be drafted in January 2020.
