The Singapore regulator has censured Genting IR over areas that “require rectification and substantial improvement.” [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Singapore’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) has acted on its displeasure with Genting Group’s Resorts World operation in the city-state by knocking a year off of its current gaming license.

improvement” sooner rather than later

Instead of a license’s usual three-year duration, the GRA has cut Resorts World Sentosa’s down to two, a signal that the body wants the integrated casino resort to address areas that “require rectification and substantial improvement” sooner rather than later. 

The Business Times cited the GRA on Monday as stating its move comes after an evaluation panel appointed by Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong branded the Genting IR’s tourism performance from 2021 through 2023 as “unsatisfactory.”

According to the South China Morning Post, the Singapore subsidiary of the Malaysia-headquartered Genting will start its revised two-year license term “from February 6 with the next evaluation to take place in 2026.”

The license for Genting’s sole IR competition in Singapore, Las Vegas Sands Corporation’s Marina Bay Sands, is also up for renewal in April.

In its defense, Genting stated the government-appointed review took place between January 2021 and December 2023 and coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when the company faced “significant challenges.”

CGS International analyst Tay Wee Kuang concurred, saying Singapore’s “tourism sector then was heavily affected in both footfall and spending.”