Satoshi Sakamoto, a senior executive director at Konami, said an industry with a good reputation will attract more Japanese visitors, and it would help to keep the licenses Konami needs to operate in Nevada and other US states.
"In Las Vegas, if you have a license they’ll take it away if you start getting involved in strange things, and that would be a big problem,” said Sakamoto in an interview with Bloomberg last week. "If Japan is too loose, then we’d have to remove ourselves,” he added.
"The most important thing is to have
compliance and rules at the same level as Nevada,” Sakamoto said. "We want a
clean casino and entertainment.”
The regulation overseeing casino operators in Nevada calls for checks once
every two years and examinations of the finances of top executives as well as
their spouses.
In Japan, the legalization of casinos in December has divided Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Buddhist-backed coalition partner Komeito amid concerns about compulsive gambling. The government is considering restrictions on existing gambling establishments, including pachinko parlors and race tracks, in a bid to tackle addiction.
Konami, which also operates health and fitness clubs, wants to see the details of the next bill advancing casino plans before deciding on its level of involvement in integrated resorts.
"We’re not going to compete with our customers,” Sakamoto said. "If our customers ask us, then we’ll look at the details and decide. First, the rules should be decided.
SourcE: GMB / Bloomberg
