Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN APR 2021 68 B efore the start of the pandemic, Philippine Online Gaming Operator (POGO) reform was already taking place. The most visible signs have surrounded compliance issues including reporting, anti-money laundering and other key aspects to the general operations. However, POGOs have also brought other aspects of governance into the mix, including human trafficking and other seedy behaviors that have been tied to POGOs. The reform of both sets of issues has the potential to craft a better product as the Philippines and other jurisdictions emerge from the “Great Shutdown”. At the beginning of the Great Shutdown, there were 51 licensed operators through the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), but that number has decreased significantly because of the reforms and crackdown that was geared largely toward those who had fallen behind on taxes and have since halted their operations. As of mid-March 2021, this number is down to 38 licensed operators. The same has been experienced among the vast number of authorized agents and service providers, which currently amount to 138 in total. In addition to the back tax issue, PAGCOR and the Central Bank already knew they needed to address several other issues to bring these operations to light, along with the service providers that are attached to each POGO. The most important of these was an anti-money laundering bill which took effect earlier this year not only to focus on POGOs and their service providers, but also to monitor the real estate COLUMNISTS