In an effort to further control and monitor gaming, the government of Buenos Aires has issued a new decree which will mandate that operators publish the financial results of their gambling venues online.

The measure is one in a series on the government’s part as it seeks to tighten the reigns over the racino in Palermo located under the racetrack, as well as what they refer to as “floating casinos” in Puerto Madero. The decree made by the Argentine National Lottery (Lotería Nacional) states that going forward all of the financial information from the racino located in Palermo and the “Estrella de la Fortuna” and “Princess,” the two casinos that are permanently tied to the city harbor, will be made public via the internet, according to G3 Newswire. Operators are now “required to provide detailed information on all the operations that have been entrusted to them and provide the National Lottery with supporting documentation for the purpose of auditing and scrutiny within the current regulatory framework,” according to the new ruling that was published in the official bulletin of the National Lottery.

The statement continues with, “Both the information provided by operators and the information obtained by The National Lottery within the framework of inspections carried out, or via the capturing through electronic interconnection online, falls in the public domain so it should be made fully available to the public.”

The Buenos Aires government wants to have more control over the casinos that are located in the capital, which have for many years been a point of contention. Earlier this month, 88 slot machines from the casinos in the city harbor and 94 from the racino in Palermo were shut down by inspectors from the Argentine National Lottery for failing to meet safety requirements required by local gaming laws. It was the first time the premises had been inspected by Lottery officials in more than ten years. The inspection took place on the heels of a surprise on-site inspection in March by the Argentine tax office La Administración de Ingresos Públicos (AFIP) of the casinos inside the floating casinos in Puerto Madero. Staff records were examined by approximately 80 inspectors and information regarding checks that were issued for over 100,000 pesos was requested.

Last year the government made the decision to take control over all gaming related activities beginning this year and in doing so decided that it would not renew the National Lottery’s four-year contract with Argentina’s capital city, which was initially completed in 2003. The contract had an automatic renewal policy for an additional four year period unless and until either the Lottery or the government decided to stop the agreement and make changes.