Cambodia’s gaming regulator is preparing a new “casino integrity and quality evaluation framework for license renewals,” aiming to “determine the minimum suitability conditions for obtaining a casino license.”
The General Secretariat of the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC) discussed the issue in a meeting on 4 September, with authorities establishing a new framework for casino licenses “based on applicable laws, regulatory instruments and the necessity to strengthen the commercial gambling sector in Cambodia.”
The meeting comes after authorities announced that they had eliminated all major scam compounds in the country following international backlash over the rise in scam operations in Cambodia, some of which were found to be operating out of licensed casino premises.
Cambodia in August indicated that it had revoked 20 casino licenses and suspended 29 more, after investigating all 195 licensed casinos in the country for possible links to scam operations.
Aside from the new licensing review framework, authorities are further tightening the screws on gaming operations in the country, with The Khmer Times indicating that live-dealer streaming from inside casinos would be shut down starting from October.
Interior Minister Sar Sokha indicated that the move was at the request of Prime Minister Hun Manet due to concerns over online gambling.
While online gambling per se has been illegal in the country since a blanket ban starting 1 January 2020, under the gaming law licensed casinos were allowed to provide live-dealer streaming to foreign players.
Sokha noted that the ban could potentially be lifted in the future, however no timeline was given as for how long it would be implemented.
Cambodia was removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in 2023 after a multi-year action plan to address deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) systems.
Cambodia is grouped together with Macau, Vietnam, Japan, Korea and New Zealand (among others) for its next FATF evaluation round in 2029.
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