Golden Quest

What is Golden Quest?

The proposed amendments include provisions on beneficial ownership, financial and controlling interests, fit-and-proper-person assessments and know-your-customer requirements. They would also require Authority approval for the acquisition of a direct or indirect financial or controlling interest of 5% or more, unless a lower threshold is prescribed.

The bill would require most licence holders to link gambling machines and devices installed on their premises to the Gambling Authority’s statutory monitoring system. Casino and bingo licence holders would be required to install their own monitoring systems instead.

The bill would increase the maximum sanction for contravening Section 87(1) to a P100,000 fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

How to play Golden Quest

Caroline Lamb informed a recent review that the current responsibility of annually processing over 500 ClubGRANTS applications within a short time frame imposed significant constraints. 

Lamb described this task as “practically limiting the authority’s ability to most effectively monitor compliance” across the scheme. 

She suggested that the State Revenue chief commissioner’s office would be better equipped to manage what she characterised as a tax rebate programme.

About Golden Quest

The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has recovered NZ$11.5 million (US$6.6 million) in an investigation into compliance across the pokies sector.

The regulator of gambling in New Zealand announced on Friday that the funds returned by operators will be directed towards community organisations.

Under Section 106 of New Zealand’s Gambling Act 2003, a class 4 licence holder, also known as a “corporate society” by the regulator, “must apply or distribute the net proceeds from class 4 gambling only to or for an authorised purpose specified in the corporate society’s licence”.