Sri Lanka is closer than ever to launching its fully-regulated gambling market, with the country forging ahead with a new bill that was given an approval by the Attorney General’s office, a prerequisite for moving forward with a new piece of legislation.
Sri Lanka is on the final stretch to legalizing gambling
As a result, the draft law, titled Gambling Sports Regularization Act, is now heading to Parliament for a final debate and very likely – an approval, where lawmakers will have the final word in whether Sri Lanka would finally expand with regulated gambling, hoping to boost tourism and secure more direct foreign investment in the process, as well as generate an economic windfall for the state.
The draft law has already received backing from the Sri Lankan cabinet, and the draft was published in the Government Gazette as early as Monday, April 21, which officializes the procedure. However, the draft law still needs to clear this final hurdle before it becomes a reality. If passed successfully, the current draft will replace a number of older statutes that mostly prohibited and restricted various gambling activities.
The proposal sees several key features hammered out, first among which is the establishment of a dedicated regulatory body, which will see the entire industry – the Gambling Regulation Authority. The watchdog will be tasked with issuing licenses as well as overseeing the industry for compliance.
The gambling industry in Sri Lanka is set to spread to land, water, and the Internet
The draft law is ambitious as it seeks to liberalize the market from the get-go and establish a fully-fleshed gambling industry right from the start with land-based casinos, integrated resorts in the Colombo Port City Special Economic Zone, offshore boat casinos, and even Internet gambling sites that will be available to local players.
This sweeping law is leaving very few avenues of opportunity unexplored, although the country is aware of the associated risks when it comes to gambling-related harm and would task the to-be-established gambling watchdog with ensuring that it oversees this and other critical areas of legislation, including AML and KYC procedures.
