Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority has renewed the casino license of Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd for three years, until 26 April 2025.
Renewal of the Singapore integrated resort’s casino license was confirmed via a short message on the CRA’s website this week, which stated that it had “assessed that MBS has fulfilled the requirements set out in Section 45 of the Casino Control Act. The licence was renewed for another three years with effect from 26 April 2022.”
MBS is owned and operated by global casino giant Las Vegas Sands.
Singapore is currently in the midst of overhauling its casino industry, having recently passed a series of bills around gambling regulation including the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore (GRA) Bill, which will reconstitute the existing Casino Regulatory Authority to establish the new Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) as the single regulator for all forms of gambling.
A new Casino Control (Amendment) Bill will be tabled at a later date, aiming “to enhance GRA’s effectiveness in regulating the casinos, and ensure the continued relevance of casino regulations.”
In January, Singapore’s parliament passed a new Gambling Duties Bill which saw casino tax rates raised and the exclusivity period of the state’s two IRs – Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa – extended until 2030.
Both MBS and RWS are preparing to launch their own major expansion initiatives at a cost of SG$4.5 billion (US$3.3 billion) each.