Lady Luck smiles on Genting as it nears getting Japan license

The Japan casino bill is more likely to be passed, says analyst.

Japan's casino bill will be deliberated today and OCBC Investment Research is betting for its passage as it believes the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was able to amass support from the opposition.

"We believe that the LDP – which previously made serious efforts to gain the understanding of the Democratic Party (DP) and other opposition parties – has taken an about-turn in seeking support from the opposition. As such, we note that there is a significant chance of the LDP forcing the passage of the bill," it said.

In this event, the research house will judge there to be a more substantial probability of Genting Singapore obtaining a casino license.

The House of Representatives Members Steering Committee (also known as the Rules and Administration Committee) has referred the casino promotion bill to the Cabinet Committee with the majority of LDP, coalition partner Komeito, and the Japan Restoration Party.

This decision was made over objections from the DP which had argued that the “conditions for entering the deliberation are not in place”.

According to the schedule on the House of Representatives website, the cabinet meeting is to be held at 1:00PM (GMT+9) or 12:00PM (GMT+8, Singapore time).