Casino Enterprise Management

We probably didn’t have to reach out to such a wide variety of experts to predict that 2009 will be "a challenge" for the gaming industry. But the details of just how the year will impact the industry—where the challenges will be greatest and where the opportunities for growth will appear—are of the sort that only our survey participants could provide.

For a long time, the organic unification of financial markets in our globalized economy has fostered an environment that is well suited to money laundering and terrorist financing. While in the post-Sept. 11 world, domestic and international entities have made great strides working together to combat the threat money laundering poses to the global economy, international inconsistencies in legal structures and the complexity of the domestic regulatory environment continue to pose challenges to these efforts.

2009 will be a historic year in the United States. On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the first U.S. President of African-American descent. President-elect Obama's swearing-in will usher in a new administration faced with challenging economic circumstances. The new administration will have to contend with the dramatic economic events of 2008, which have spiraled the world economy into a recession.

It is relatively common in United States for a felony conviction to automatically bar an applicant from gaming licensure, at least for a significant period of time. The "no felon" prohibitions are often trumpeted as a hallmark of strict licensing standards that assure the public of a clean gaming industry. It also has a beguiling simplicity: Why allow criminals to participate in a business where integrity is critical?