Macau’s Executive Council has proposed new amendments to the recently revised gaming law to keep a tighter rein on credit for gamblers in the city. According to Inside Asian Gaming, the latest amendment would prohibit management companies from extending credit to players.
Presently, credit is available from concessionaires, sub-concessionaires and so-called management companies; the latter are permitted to operate satellite casinos under the license of a concessionaire. If passed, the new bill would only allow casino concessionaires and licensed junkets to extend credit to gamblers. The amendment would also reaffirm lenders’ obligations and the consequences for breaking the rules, and enact new safeguards and penalties.
Cheong Weng Chon, secretary for Administration and Justice, and Adriano Marques Ho, director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced the proposed new measure on April 21.
“The bill will be referred to the Legislative Assembly for scrutiny and voting, and is still in draft form,” said Ho. “The bill confirms that the only credit entities are the concessionaire and the gaming junkets, and that management company will no longer be a credit entity.”
Cheong was asked if the new measure is a consequence of the Suncity and Tak Chun junket cases. Those junkets, which once dominated the Macau VIP gaming sector, closed in 2022 after their respective CEOs, Alvin Chau and Levo Chan, were charged with crimes including running criminal syndicates and taking illegal bets. Chau was convicted in January and sentenced to 18 years behind bars. Chan was found guilty April 21 and sentenced to 14 years.
Cheong responded, “This law was amended because of the development of the gambling industry, not because the government is trying to amend the law in response to certain criminal cases.”
