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BCLC Seeks Changes to Overseas Wire Transfer Legislation
March 30, 2011
The B.C. Lottery Corporation is seeking permission from the province to allow its casinos to accept direct money transfers from overseas; a practice that currenly is banned according to provincial legislations.
As the rules stand now, non-Canadian gamers wanting access to more than $10,000 in physical cash must first set up a Canadian bank account, after which they can have their money routed through an electronic account at the casino.
According to BCLC President, Michael Graydon, ammending the legislation to allow for direct international transfers would serve two-fold in helping Paragon Gaming meet its target of $100 million from international gamblers at its expanded Vancouver Casino, and make B.C's casino's more attractive to the industry's more affluent overseas clients.
“We have some high-end players that do buy-ins of half a million dollars in a morning. They’ll play for $45,000 a hand and sit for three of four hours,” said Graydon in the Globe and Mail.
“What we’d like is the ability to wire the money in from an accredited, registered, recognized banking institution in those markets [that gamblers are coming from] directly to the casinos. We are in discussions now [with the province] on how to enhance the electronic transfer of funds and reduce the reliance on cash,” he added.
Amid concerns that relaxing wire transfer rules in this fashion would increase the risk of money laundering, Graydon argued that allowing some of the casino's higher rollers to access funds in this manner would in fact reduce the amount of physical cash being handled, thereby reducing the opportunity for criminal activity. Moreover, he added that it would give law enforcement an definitive means by which to track any suspicious activity.
Howard Blank, president of Great Canadian Gaming, said that he was also in favor of the changes, adding, "All we're doing is taking one step away...The nice thing about wire transfers, there's a total chain in the trail. I would rather have something transferred in than get a bag with $100,000."
Blank added that one condition of his support was that Canada's money laundering group, FINTRAC, also backed the initiative.
Opponents to BCLC's recommended changes are not as easily convinced, and have some research to support their concerns. According to a 2006 U.S Financial Action Task Force report, "Historically, the most prevalent method of money laundering reported insuspicious activity reports is structured cash deposits followed by immediate and regular international wire transfers that are conducted through correspondent accounts either by individuals or businesses."
Chris Mathers, a Toronto-based consultant and former RCMP expect on such matters, agrees that allowing direct international wire transfers would in fact increase the risk of money laundering, stating, “It’s a really bad idea...You need to know the source of the funds, but here a wire transfer just shows up. Who is this guy? What is the source of his money? Have you done a background check on him?”
At time of print, B.C.'s gaming branch is still deliberating BCLC's recommendations for change in current provincial wire-transfer legistlation.
Source: Globe and Mail
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