Press Releases
Second tranche of amendments to the Casino Control (Amendment) Act 2024 to take effect on 21 September 2026
21 September 2026
1. The Casino Control (Amendment) Act 2024 (the “Act”) strengthens Singapore’s casino regulatory framework by:
(a) Enhancing the operational effectiveness of our casino regulatory regime;
(b) Tightening the regulation of the casinos and licensees; and
(c) Strengthening protection for vulnerable groups.
2. The following provisions in the Act will come into effect on 21 September 2026. For more information on provisions which had come into earlier, please refer to Annex.
Enhance the operational effectiveness of our casino regulatory regime
Future-proof our regulatory regime for casino gambling
3. The Casino Control Act (CCA) was amended to empower the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) to:
(a) Regulate betting and lotteries in the casinos, in addition to games of chance, to pre-empt future changes in the gambling landscape.
(b) Approve gaming software, including gaming software deployed on mobile devices, should the need arise.1
(c) Prescribe any instrument or thing to be regarded as casino chips. A new Casino Control (Prescribed Casino Chips) Regulations 2026 will be enacted to prescribe electronic credits as casino chips. New wagering instruments may also be prescribed in future, should GRA assess them to be suitable.
Tighten the regulation of the casinos and licensees
Enhance criminal offences to deter casino-related crime and protect the integrity of gaming operations
4. To ensure our laws continue to be an effective deterrent against casino-related crime, the following new offences have been introduced:
(a) Offence to withdraw bets after the result of the game is known. Previously, it was an offence for patrons to place a bet in a casino after the result is known but not an offence to withdraw a bet after the result is known, and the Police have had to use provisions in other laws to deal with such cheating cases. This right-sites the provisions under the CCA.
(b) Offence to record non-card games. Previously, it was an offence to use a device to record cards dealt in the course of gaming. However, the Police have encountered cases of patrons who attempt to cheat the casinos by recording play patterns of non-card games (e.g. gaming machines). The Act expands the current offence to cover the recording of non-card games.
5. In addition, an excluded person will be liable for entering, remaining or taking part in gambling on casino premises if it is proven that he knows, or ought reasonably to know that he was an excluded person. This removes the requirement for GRA to prove that the excluded person was aware of his exclusion status at the time of entry.
Expand suitability criteria for Casino Operators (COs)
6. The COs are expected to conduct their business operations in an ethical and credible manner, and implement good corporate governance practices. To reflect GRA’s regulatory expectations, the Act was amended to allow GRA to consider the following on an ongoing basis when assessing a CO’s suitability to hold a casino licence:
(a) Whether the CO conducts its business in a manner which is unethical or which will bring discredit to casino gambling in Singapore; and
(b) Whether there has been a systemic deficiency or failure in the CO’s internal controls or corporate governance.
7. GRA is also empowered to take disciplinary action against a CO, if GRA assesses the CO’s suitability to hold a casino licence is affected due to breaches of the criteria in paragraph 6.
Require information sharing to strengthen prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing measures
8. The CCA will require the COs to share information of patrons with each other, for the purposes of tackling money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.2 This allows the COs to take swifter action when a patron is found to pose a higher risk of money laundering, terrorism financing or proliferation financing.
Strengthen protection for vulnerable groups
Criminalise breach of Family Visit Limit3
9. It was previously an offence for an individual to breach an Exclusion Order by Law, Third Party Exclusion Order, Third Party Visit Limit, or Family Exclusion Order. For parity, the breach of a Family Visit Limit for casinos is now criminalised.
Allow the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and its Committees4 to immediately substitute an Exclusion Order with a Visit Limit, and vice versa
10. Today, the NCPG and its Committees can only revoke an existing Exclusion Order or Visit Limit, and subsequently impose a new Visit Limit or Exclusion Order. The process usually takes one to two months, during which the individual would not be protected by any safeguards. Henceforth, changes to be introduced under the Act will allow NCPG to immediately substitute an Exclusion Order with a Visit Limit, and vice versa, streamlining the process and ensuring that individuals continue to be protected from gambling harms. The NCPG can also impose more stringent safeguards, such as replacing a Visit Limit with an Exclusion Order, where necessary to protect the individual.
11. Taken together, these amendments will keep Singapore’s casino regulatory framework robust and responsive to emerging risks, uphold the integrity of casino operations, and strengthen safeguards against gambling-related harm.
Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Social and Family Development
[1] If approved, such gaming software must only be deployed and playable within the casino premises.
[2] Similar provisions can also be found in the Financial Services and Markets Act to allow prescribed financial institutions to share such information.
[3] The NCPG administers the following types of casino exclusion orders and visit limits, which prohibit individuals from entering casinos or limit the number of casino visits per calendar month:
(a) Self-Exclusion / Voluntary Visit Limit: Imposed upon voluntary application to ban / limit visits to the casino;
(b) Family Exclusion Order / Family Visit Limit: Imposed upon application by a family member, the NCPG can ban / limit visits to the casino if the person’s gambling behaviour has caused harm to his/her family;
(c) Third-Party Exclusion Order: Imposed by the NCPG without application, to ban / limit visits to the casino, individuals who have a poor credit record or are vulnerable to financial harm due to his/her gambling behaviour; and
(d) Exclusion Order by Law: Imposed automatically to ban financially vulnerable groups (i.e. undischarged bankrupts and persons on social assistance programmes or subsidy schemes funded by the Government or any statutory body, from entering the casinos).
[4] Refers to Committees constituted to make or revoke an Exclusion Order or a Visit Limit.