Cambodia bans online gambling

The Cambodian Government has announced it will no longer issue licenses to online gambling businesses, and will not permit the renewal of any existing licenses once they have expired.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister, said: “The Royal Government stops granting principles and licenses to operate online gambling businesses inside and outside Cambodia from the day of signature on this directive onwards.

“For valid license holders, they will be allowed to operate until the licenses are expired. After that, the Ministry of Economy and Finance will not renew their licenses anymore.”

The new ban comes amid government concerns over illegal online gambling businesses in Cambodia, with Police recently arresting 127 Chinese nationals in Sihanoukville accused of running an illegal online gambling and extortion ring.

All Cambodian authorities were ordered to “take strict measures to implement this directive effectively.”

The Prime Minister said: “Some foreign criminals have taken refuge in the form of this gambling to cheat and extort money from victims, domestic and abroad.”

In a bid to end offshore gambling, the Chinese embassy in Manila recently warned its citizens that gambling abroad was illegal, urging the Philippine Government to “take concrete and effective measures” to prevent any illegal employment of Chinese citizens in its gambling industry.

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OnlineLegal & Regulatory
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Owain Flanders
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Owain Flanders is a journalist who spent over a year with Gambling Insider, first joining as an Editorial Intern in August 2019 before progressing to Staff Writer from November 2019 to December 2020. During his tenure, he covered a wide range of developments across the global gambling and iGaming sectors, producing original news stories, in-depth features and analytical pieces for the Gambling Insider website and its bi-monthly magazine.

Owain interviewed CEOs, analysts and senior marketing executives on emerging trends, regulatory issues and commercial strategy, bringing authoritative insight to a professional B2B audience.

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