The government of Nepal has tightened its grip on the country’s casino industry with the recent introduction of a set of rules relating to sharing of information about gamblers, management of assets, and monitoring for suspicious activities.
Under the new rules, operators of brick-and-mortar casinos around the nation are required to maintain a record of visitors and players at the properties. The gambling venues should also deny access to people that are believed to be involved in suspicious activities. Police should be informed immediately if any such individuals are seeking access to Nepal’s casino floors.
The new rules mandate that casinos must inform the government and the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) about wins or losses of more than NPR1 million within a 15-day period. And if the gambling venues suspect that a patron uses suspicious money, it has to compile a report and notify the NRB’s Financial Information Unit (FIU) within a three-day period.
Casinos will also be monitored by the government for money laundering. Under the recently adopted directive, operators of gambling venues must submit reports to Nepal’s Department of Tourism every four months. The reports will have to contain information proving that the casinos are not used for money laundering. Properties failing to submit the required reports could face fines of up to NPR50 million.
Privacy Policies
The newly imposed rules also contain provisions relating to sharing information about customers, casino operators, and staff members. Under the recent directive, casinos are not permitted to share records, data, and any other type of information that identifies individuals with third parties.
Information of this kind can only be shared with the FIU. Competent authorities are set to take actions against any operator or staff that leak sensitive information about patrons.
Casinos will have to keep records, both physical and digital ones, for a period of five years. They are required to be able to provide information to the FIU whenever they are asked to do so.
Personal accounts cannot be used by casino operators for business purposes. Any account must be under the casino’s name. Operators whose accounts are found to be under a personal name or names of staff or family members will face regulatory action.
Gambling operators are further required to annually file records containing the names of their staff to the Department of Tourism and the FIU. If casinos change staff, they must inform the competent authorities about the changes within a 15-day period.
Casinos can be slapped a fine of NPR5 million for failure to comply with the new rules. If the gambling venues fail to keep information about patrons, they can be fined NRP1 million. And casinos that fail to prevent anonymous or suspicious transactions can be fined NRP50 million under the new rules adopted by the government of Nepal.
Under Nepal’s gambling law, only foreign nationals are allowed to gamble at the nation’s casinos.
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