The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has directed licensed gaming operators to review and strengthen their anti-money laundering controls after rating the casino sector’s money-laundering risk as ‘high’.
Under an advisory issued on July 13th, operators must incorporate the findings of PAGCOR’s second Casino Sector Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment into their institutional risk assessments and compliance frameworks.
The assessment, approved by PAGCOR’s board on June 25th, covers the period from 2021 to 2024. It rated the sector’s terrorism-financing risk as ‘medium-high’, despite identifying no confirmed terrorism-financing case involving PAGCOR-regulated casino operations during the review period.
PAGCOR said the high money-laundering rating was driven by cash and value-conversion activities, exposure to high-risk customers and intermediaries, complex operations across multiple channels and inconsistent implementation of controls.
‘The sector remains materially exposed to proceeds from serious predicate crimes, particularly where high-value transactions, cash activity, VIP or junket relationships, electronic gaming, remote channels, or weak controls are present,’ the assessment stated.
Land-based casinos were classified as having high inherent vulnerability due to their scale, cash intensity, foreign patronage and exposure to VIP and junket activity.
Electronic gaming was rated medium-high, with PAGCOR citing its rapid expansion, large customer reach, high transaction frequency, non-face-to-face features and uneven system maturity. Larger licensees generally have stronger systems, while smaller venues may face gaps in customer-level data aggregation, cross-channel monitoring and the timely reconstruction of transactions, the regulator noted.
Operators were instructed to review customer due diligence, source-of-funds checks, transaction monitoring and oversight of VIP, junket, remote and high-value relationships.
PAGCOR warned that a failure to ‘reasonably consider’ the assessment could be taken into account when determining future supervisory or enforcement responses.
The former group general counsel of Australia’s Star Entertainment Group has appealed Federal Court findings that she breached the Corporations Act by failing to properly address money laundering risks linked to the casino operator’s former junket partner, Suncity.
Paula Martin, who served as Star’s group general counsel, company secretary and chief legal and risk officer, is seeking to overturn findings made by Justice Michael Lee that she failed to adequately inform the company’s board about money laundering risks associated with Suncity, as well as issues surrounding the misuse of China UnionPay (CUP) bank cards for gambling transactions. Justice Lee in June imposed a seven-year ban preventing Martin from managing corporations and ordered her to pay a civil penalty of AU$400,000 ($283,000).
In his judgment, Justice Lee said Martin could not separate her responsibilities as group general counsel from those of company secretary, noting that she reported directly to the board, attended most board meetings and was responsible for providing legal advice to ensure the company’s operations complied with applicable laws and regulations.
The court found that, given her position, a reasonable officer would have informed Star’s board about the money laundering concerns surrounding Suncity and the issues involving the use of CUP cards, which were prohibited for gambling transactions.
According to appeal documents filed with the Federal Court, Martin argues Justice Lee erred in concluding that she had a legal duty to raise those matters directly with the board. She is seeking to have the proceedings dismissed and has also requested that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) be ordered to pay the legal costs of both the original proceedings and the appeal.
Alternatively, Martin has asked the court to set aside some of the declarations made against her and reconsider both the financial penalty and the length of her management disqualification.
During the original proceedings, ASIC had sought a civil penalty of AU$700,000 ($495,000), although Justice Lee ultimately imposed the lower AU$400,000 ($283,000) penalty.
Former Star managing director and CEO Mathias Bekier has also appealed the Federal Court’s findings against him. Bekier’s appeal includes 11 grounds, arguing that Justice Lee wrongly rejected parts of his evidence regarding the steps he took to address money laundering risks.
He also disputes findings that he should have requested copies of all communications between Star and National Australia Bank concerning CUP transactions following a warning letter received in 2020.
If the liability findings are upheld, Bekier has also challenged the penalties imposed, arguing the court failed to properly consider penalties handed to other former Star executives when determining his sanction.
The appeals represent the latest legal proceedings stemming from regulatory action against Star following multiple inquiries into the casino operator’s anti-money laundering controls, governance failures and relationships with high-risk international junket operators, including Suncity.
In March, Justice Lee found Martin and Bekier had breached their duties under the Corporations Act by failing to adequately respond to known money laundering risks associated with Suncity and CUP transactions.
In June, the court imposed a six-year disqualification and AU$700,000 ($495,000) civil penalty on Bekier, while Martin received a seven-year disqualification and AU$400,000 ($283,000) penalty.
SOFTSWISS has announced a media partnership with iGB and ICE for Tech Race Summit 2026, supporting its initiative to establish a dedicated forum for engineering and technology discussions in iGaming and bringing together experts behind the systems powering modern digital businesses.
As iGaming platforms continue to evolve, operators increasingly face the same technology challenges as other high-load industries, including cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, cybersecurity, observability, and AI adoption. Despite this shift, the industry has had few opportunities to discuss these topics from an engineering perspective.
Through this partnership, iGB, ICE and Tech Race Summit will address that need. The event brings together experts from AWS, Google, Oracle, Cloudflare, Fastly, Gcore, ScyllaDB, and other technology companies to exchange practical experience on building and operating technology at scale. Rather than product presentations, the programme focuses on technical decision-making, real-world engineering experience, and the future of digital infrastructure.
Margaret Dunn, Portfolio Director, WorldGaming (ex-Clarion), said: “Technology is becoming one of the defining forces in iGaming, yet dedicated engineering discussions have remained relatively rare. As we will be focusing on this topic at ICE 2027, we are pleased to support Tech Race Summit as its media partner. Encouraging knowledge sharing across the industry is something we see as an important responsibility, and we believe these conversations will benefit the entire sector.”
“The most valuable engineering ideas rarely come from working in isolation,” shared Sergey Kastukevich, Chief Technology Officer at SOFTSWISS. “Tech Race Summit brings together experts who solve similar technology challenges from different perspectives, creating an opportunity to exchange practical experience and better understand where cloud infrastructure, AI, and high-load systems are heading next.”
Tech Race Summit will take place on 10 September 2026 in Warsaw. The event will feature engineering leaders from global cloud providers, infrastructure companies, and high-load technology businesses, offering attendees practical insights into the technologies shaping the next generation of digital platforms.
Through the assembly and distribution of 1,500 emergency kits, disaster preparedness workshops, and educational activities at local schools, the programme continues to raise awareness of disaster readiness and strengthen the community’s capabilities in emergency evacuation and disaster response.
This year, Sands Cares Ambassador community volunteers assembled and distributed emergency kits to four local schools, while on-site workshops introduced students to disaster preparedness and emergency evacuation at an early age. To enhance fire emergency preparedness, a fire evacuation mask was added to each kit, helping residents and households improve their response capabilities.
Co-organised by Sands China and Macau Red Cross since 2019 and supported by the Social Affairs Bureau and the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, the programme has expanded to local schools since 2024, promoting disaster preparedness knowledge and distributing emergency kits through workshops for primary students. The initiative has benefited nearly 9,000 households to date and now covers 19 schools across Macau.
For the first time, the programme also featured a First Aid and Disaster Preparation Workshop for Sands China team members, providing practical knowledge on disaster preparation, emergency response, first aid techniques, common risks in Macao, and key preparedness measures for offices and households.
Dr. Wilfred Wong, executive vice chairman of Sands China Ltd., said: “For eight consecutive years, Sands China and Macau Red Cross have worked together to promote disaster preparedness and emergency response knowledge in the community. This year, we enhanced the emergency kits with additional preparedness items and expanded disaster preparation workshops to our team members for the first time, further extending the programme’s impact. We thank Macau Red Cross, the Macao SAR Government, all sectors of society, and our Sands Cares Ambassadors for their continued support. Through this programme, we will continue to serve the local community, strengthen disaster preparedness, and contribute to a blissful Macao.”
Owen Wong, deputy director of disaster relief affairs for Macau Red Cross, shared:“Community disaster preparedness has become an integral part of our work since Typhoon Hato and Typhoon Mangkhut. We thank Sands China for its collaboration since 2019 in advancing disaster preparation workshops and the emergency kit initiative. This year, we added fire prevention content and a fire evacuation mask to strengthen public preparedness for fire and smoke emergencies. Throughout our collaboration, we have remained committed to enhancing practical skills and supporting community resilience.”
The emergency kits, designed by Macau Red Cross and assembled with locally sourced items donated by Sands China, include essential supplies such as a first aid pack, emergency blanket, KN95 facemasks, emergency radio, government emergency response leaflet, and the newly added fire evacuation mask. Distributed ahead of the typhoon season, the kits help ensure timely access to essential contingency items for students, teaching staff, and their families.
Crypto casino and sportsbook BetHog will cease operations on July 31st as its founders redirect the company’s resources towards Sentient Studios, its business supplying AI-powered dealers to gaming operators.
BetHog co-founder and chief executive Nigel Eccles
BetHog co-founder and chief executive Nigel Eccles told AGB exclusively that the casino had performed broadly in line with expectations but would have required substantially more investment to become sustainably profitable.
“The main factor is really the success of Sentient Studios,” Eccles said. “We have significant pull from operators for our AI dealer products and we think it is a market we can really win.”
“It’s going to be a really big market and therefore it makes sense to focus all of our resources on it,” he added.
Eccles said the closure was not primarily linked to the platform’s financial performance, customer acquisition costs or regulatory challenges.
“It was performing fairly in line with expectations, but it would have needed a lot more investment to become sustainably profitable,” he said. “When we looked at that and the opportunity with Sentient, it was an easy decision.”
BetHog was launched in November 2024 by Eccles and Rob Jones, both co-founders of US sports betting operator FanDuel. The Anjouan-licensed platform focused exclusively on cryptocurrency payments, initially targeting markets including Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa.
In an interview with AGB in January 2025, Eccles argued that gambling could become an entry point into cryptocurrency for a new generation of users.
The latest move follows a $10 million Series A funding round in April, which brought the company’s total funding to $16 million. Part of the proceeds was earmarked for developing Sentient Studios’ AI dealer products and accelerating their commercial rollout.
BetHog’s product development team had already shifted almost entirely to the AI dealer operation, meaning the closure will result in limited personnel changes. Eccles said around three employees in the marketing department would be affected.
Existing customers have been given several weeks to withdraw their balances before the July 31st shutdown. “We aren’t expecting there to be any issues there,” Eccles said.
Asian operators show interest
Eccles declined to identify operators currently testing or preparing to license Sentient’s AI dealer products, saying the company was not yet in a position to disclose its partner pipeline.
However, he described the pipeline as “incredibly promising” and said testing with end users had also produced positive results. The timetable for commercial launches will depend partly on securing the required licenses and compliance approvals.
Sentient is currently focusing on Europe, Latin America and Canada, but Eccles said the company had also received “significant interest from a number of Asian operators”.
Its AI dealers currently support 15 languages, with that number expected to rise to 74 within several months. Sentient recently launched Tong, its second dealer and first native Chinese-speaking character.
Interest in virtual and AI-powered casino hosts is increasing as suppliers seek alternatives to traditional live-dealer studios, which require physical facilities and round-the-clock staffing. The technology is being developed to offer multilingual dealers, customized digital characters and tables that can operate continuously.
Sentient is not alone in pursuing the segment. Playgon Games and Digital Nation Entertainment have also agreed to develop an AI dealer platform, while Playtech has introduced hybrid products combining automated components with features associated with live casino games.
Despite growing supplier interest, regulatory approvals, game certification and player acceptance remain important tests for the wider adoption of AI dealers.
Voluntary reports of youth online gambling in South Korea rose by 74 percent in the second month of a nationwide reporting program, according to Korean National Police Agency data cited by Yonhap News Agency.
Authorities received 512 reports during the second month, up from 294 in the first. A total of 806 cases were recorded between May 18th and mid-July, comprising 629 reports from young gamblers and 177 from parents or guardians.
The cases revealed links between underage gambling, illegal lending and theft.
An 18-year-old reportedly borrowed KRW5 million ($3,500) from more than 10 illegal lenders to fund his gambling. The loans carried an annual interest rate of 200 percent. The teenager later reported threats and unlawful debt-collection practices.
In another case, a 14-year-old deposited KRW26 million ($18,100) into online gambling sites. He allegedly borrowed KRW2 million ($1,400) from 41 classmates.
Police also received a report involving a 14-year-old who allegedly withdrew KRW30 million ($20,900) from his father’s bank account to gamble.
The Youth Cyber Gambling Voluntary Reporting Program covers people under 19 and their guardians. Participants may be connected with addiction treatment, psychiatric care and debt-adjustment services.
Authorities plan to operate the initiative until August 31st, with reports accepted through the country’s 117 school violence reporting and counseling service.
Playson has enhanced its foothold in South Africa through a partnership with leading operator Hollywoodbets, bringing a selection of its top-performing titles to players in the regulated market.
The partnership will see Hollywoodbets integrate a range of Playson’s acclaimed Hold and Win releases via Light & Wonder’s aggregation platform, further enhancing the platform’s extensive live games offering with content renowned for engaging gameplay and consistent performance.
The initial rollout includes Coin Strike: Hold and Win, Thunder Coins: Hold and Win, Thunder Coins XXL: Hold and Win, Diamonds Power: Hold and Win, Energy Coins: Hold and Win and 3 Carts of Gold: Hold and Win, with additional releases set to follow as the partnership develops.
One of South Africa’s most established betting and gaming brands, Hollywoodbets has built a strong reputation for delivering premium entertainment experiences across multiple verticals, making it an ideal partner for Playson as the studio continues to expand its reach across regulated markets.
Blanka Homor, Sales Director at Playson,said: “Partnering with Hollywoodbets represents another important milestone in our African growth strategy. As one of South Africa’s household names, Hollywoodbets offers an outstanding platform through which we can introduce our high-performing portfolio to an even wider audience. We are confident our games will resonate strongly with players, and we look forward to building a successful long-term partnership together.”
The collaboration further reinforces Playson’s commitment to strategic growth in Africa, where it has signed a number of high-profile deals this year, while enabling Hollywoodbets to broaden its live games portfolio with a selection of globally proven player favourites.
“Playson’s portfolio has earned an excellent reputation for delivering engaging gameplay and consistent results across regulated markets, making it a valuable addition to our product offering,” shared Wayde Dorkin, Head of Product at Hollywoodbets. “We are always looking to enhance the entertainment experience available to our players, and we are delighted to welcome a selection of Playson’s top-performing titles to the Hollywoodbets platform.”
Greentube, the Digital Gaming and Entertainment arm of NOVOMATIC, has entered Alberta as the province opens its regulated iGaming market, unlocking new expansion potential across North America.
The Alberta market opening marks a key moment for the Canadian iGaming industry, becoming only the second province to regulate after Ontario, and the open framework officially replacing the long-held monopoly previously held by Play Alberta.
Greentube’s go-live follows a rigorous regulatory and technical due diligence process, with the company securing registration with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) commission to operate in the province.
The development builds on Greentube’s established presence in Canada, where the company has been live in Ontario since 2022, and represents a significant step forward in its continued North American expansion strategy.
David Bolas
As part of the Alberta launch, players gain access to a curated selection from Greentube’s portfolio. The initial rollout includes Piggy Prizes™ Wand of Riches 2™, Rumble Riches™ Haulin’ Gold™and Firecracker Frenzy™ Money Toad™, alongside established player favourites Silver Lux Big Win Spinner, Starlight Jackpots™ Captain’s Catch™ and Charming Lady’s Boom™.
The mix has been carefully selected to reflect Greentube’s newest releases and strongest-performing titles, ensuring broad appeal for Alberta audiences from day one.
David Bolas, Commercial Director at Greentube, said: “Going live in Alberta on the day the market opens is an important step for Greentube and reflects the strong momentum we are seeing in Canada. We welcome the opportunity a new jurisdiction offers and look forward to working with locally licensed operators to introduce our established offering to players in Alberta. With a balanced line-up of new releases and proven performers, we are well placed to offer a compelling experience in the province and support our long-term ambitions in the region.”
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is building its casino market around regulation, tourism integration and controlled access rather than broad gaming expansion, according to Macau-based lawyer Sofia Linhares.
Sofia Linhares
Speaking to AGB, Linhares said the UAE was taking a different approach from traditional gaming jurisdictions by establishing its regulatory framework before the industry reaches maturity. The country, which historically maintained a strict prohibition on gambling, is now developing a regulated commercial gaming sector under the oversight of the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA).
The launch of Wynn Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, expected to become the UAE’s first casino resort, will provide an early test of whether gaming can be integrated into the country’s wider tourism and economic diversification strategy.
UAE builds gaming framework around regulation
Linhares said the UAE’s move into gaming should not be viewed as a shift towards unrestricted gambling, but as the creation of a controlled entertainment sector operating within a defined legal framework.
“It means the legal landscape has shifted from absolute prohibition to regulated permission,” Linhares said.
She added that the change provides greater certainty for licensed operators, suppliers and other businesses involved in the gaming ecosystem, while allowing the government to establish clear rules before the market expands.
“The change is not an invitation to free-market gaming; it is a carefully calibrated signal that the UAE is serious about building a regulated ecosystem,” Linhares said.
Unlike established gaming markets that developed their regulatory structures over decades, the UAE is designing its framework before a large-scale casino industry has emerged.
Linhares said this gives the country the opportunity to incorporate compliance requirements from the outset, including stronger oversight of operators, suppliers and financial activity.
“The UAE is designing for a post-junket world from day one, with a heavier emphasis on technology, data transparency, and anti-money laundering infrastructure,” she said.
The approach reflects a broader shift among emerging gaming jurisdictions, where regulators have placed greater emphasis on responsible gaming, financial controls and transparency before allowing commercial operations to scale.
Gaming positioned as part of wider tourism strategy
Linhares said one of the UAE’s main advantages is that it does not need casinos to create tourism demand.
“The UAE has structural advantages most emerging markets lack: a diversified economy, world-class tourism infrastructure, and a non-gaming hospitality sector that already outperforms many gaming destinations,” she said.
Unlike some gaming markets where integrated resorts were developed primarily to attract visitors, the UAE already has an established luxury tourism base. Linhares said gaming should serve as an additional attraction rather than the foundation of the destination.
“The UAE does not need gaming to fill hotels or drive footfall; it needs gaming to complement an existing ecosystem,” she said.
Maintaining that balance will be one of the biggest challenges for the emerging market, she said. Many jurisdictions have promoted integrated resorts as diversified tourism developments but later became heavily reliant on gaming revenue.
“The risk is complacency. If operators treat non-gaming as a marketing line rather than a business model, the UAE will follow the same trajectory as others,” Linhares said.
She said regulators would need to ensure that non-gaming components remain supported through transparent reporting, performance monitoring and clear standards for integrated resort development.
The opening of Wynn Al Marjan Island will be the first major test of whether the UAE’s approach can translate into practice. The $5.1 billion resort in Ras Al Khaimah, developed by Wynn Resorts with local partners, is expected to include the UAE’s first licensed casino alongside hotels, dining, entertainment and other non-gaming facilities.
Linhares said the project represents more than the introduction of casino gaming.
“It is a test of whether gaming can operate within a broader tourism model that remains aligned with the country’s economic priorities,” she said.
While Macau’s gaming industry evolved through decades of market development before introducing tighter regulatory controls, Linhares said the UAE has the opportunity to establish safeguards before the sector matures.
“The most important lesson: regulate the ecosystem, not just the operator,” Linhares told AGB. “Macau’s greatest failure was allowing the junket system to operate in regulatory twilight — generating revenue while evading meaningful oversight.”
The long-term challenge for the UAE, she said, will be maintaining a balance between attracting international gaming investment and preserving a broader tourism-led economic model.
QTech Games, the top aggregator in emerging markets, is maintaining strong momentum in its premium offering, reinforced by a new partnership with EXCO Game Studio, a studio quickly gaining recognition for its unique slot experiences.
EXCO Game Studio prides itself as a bulwark against a relentless tide of copycat content, inspired by a “no more clones” mantra which rejects re-skins and tired reboots. Instead, EXCO embraces its own indie slots-studio vibe by carefully crafting every game from scratch – no clones, no filler, no portfolio assembled by committee. Each concept is its own, with no licensed mechanics, and no white-label shortcuts.
All EXCO content runs off GAMEX, the studio’s proprietary mechanic system, which is in turn paired with EXCO HACKS, a configurable bonus suite that lets operators vary volatility and engagement for any market.
Consequently, integrating a progressive portfolio from one of the most unique and innovative developers in the sector adds more muscle to QTech’s proprietary platform, which is leading the way across growth markets like LatAm and Africa.
EXCO Game Studio’s evolving gaming suite is optimised for mobile, a cornerstone of QTech’s RNG model, which is founded on its fully-owned and customised technical platform, affording games providers and operators the fastest integration available. Through this leading platform, which has sealed its definitive status as a global gaming one-stop shop, clients enjoy the best performance and customer support available, localised to every region across both developing and mature markets.
This partnership with EXCO Game Studio will deliver a targeted range of localised content, enabling QTech Games to continue to meet the varied preferences of players across emerging markets, while supporting both companies’ ambitions for global growth.
Philip Doftvik, QTech’s CEO, said: “EXCO Game Studio is fast becoming renowned for creating clever, fresh-faced mechanics for compelling and immersive experiences. In a homogenous space often devoid of original thinking, they offer mechanics which afford players a breakthrough user experience which they don’t get anywhere else. Their social mechanics also caught our eye, and QTech Play’s recommendation engine is now surfacing that shareable content to the players most likely to engage with it. The direction of travel is clear: entertainment in our markets is something players do together, not alone.”
Fredrik Elmqvist, CEO at EXCO Game Studio, added: “The online slots industry is drowning in copycat product – another reskin wearing a new hat, every single time. Players clock it fast now. They abandon games quicker than ever, retention craters, engagement dies, because when everything looks the same, nothing matters. At EXCO we don’t do boardroom handcuffs and we don’t do safe. Our job is new themes, new mechanics, things that actually make a player feel something: concepts that make you pause mid-scroll, settings people actually talk about, characters you remember, stories that don’t follow the usual script. Terrible news for lazy studios. Excellent news for everyone else.”
“QTech puts us in front of players across LatAm and Africa who’ve never had an EXCO game land in their lobby. New markets, same standard – if it’s not different from what’s already there, it doesn’t ship. Excited to find out how it plays.”
