GOLDEN LAND

About GOLDEN LAND

Anthony Lee’s senior campaigning role gave him access to confidential discussions about the election timing. Rather than keeping that information confidential, he placed bets and passed it to his wife. She then used the information to place her own bets.

UK operators already carry out enhanced checks on politically exposed persons (PEPs), but this case shows the limits of those safeguards, Bethan Lloyd, partner at law firm Wiggin, recently told iGB.

“PEP status does not prevent someone from gambling,” Lloyd explained. She said PEPs are entitled to bet, but not on events where inside information gives them an unfair advantage.

About GOLDEN LAND

Singapore has also imposed a highly controlled casino model, with casinos embedded within enormous integrated resorts and accompanied by entry controls and social safeguards. But by incorporating other forms of entertainment into their resorts, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa have proved hugely successful businesses that blend casino gaming with complementing luxury retail, hotels and entertainment.

Genting Singapore’s flagship Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) offers a smorgasbord of non-gaming entertainments, including Universal Studios Singapore. “These different businesses are planned and operated as one connected destination for leisure visitors, families, business travellers and event delegates, with the aim to widen the destination’s appeal, encourage longer stays and support spending across a broader tourism ecosystem,” a Genting Singapore spokesperson tells iGB.

Singapore’s experience shows that tourism growth and stringent social safeguards need not be mutually exclusive. Since its IRs opened, international visitor arrivals have risen from 9.7 million in 2009 to 16.9 million in 2025, while tourism receipts more than doubled from S$12.4 billion to a record S$32.8 billion.

How to play GOLDEN LAND

The report also revealed that Evolution had ignored virtual currency risks, as they had accepted wagers in said currency without triggering the enhanced due diligence normally expected in such cases.

Moreover, Evolution had continued earning revenue from operators in so-called grey markets without enforcing contractual blocks or other remedial measures despite earlier allegations.

Last month the UK Gambling Commission agreed a regulatory settlement with Evolution of £4.75 million, after finding its games had been accessible via a handful of unlicensed operators in the UK.