Macau (MNA) – The year in gaming in the Macau SAR was marked by several efforts to create stronger regulations and improved regulatory frameworks to strengthen the operation rules of the sector which constitutes the city’s main economic activity.
The renewal of gaming licences has occupied the minds and plans of all the six casino operators, with some hinting to expectations for awaited improvements in the Cotai site and requesting more gaming tables, while others suggested Hengqin as a window of opportunity for further development.
In November, the MSAR Chief Executive, Fernando Chui Sai On, announced during the Policy Address for 2018 that details on the renewal of gaming concessions were to be revealed by mid-year.
The gaming concessions of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) and MGM China Holdings Ltd are to expire in 2020, while the 20-year gaming licenses granted to Melco Resorts & Entertainment, Sands China Ltd. (Sands China), Wynn Resorts (Macau) S.A. and Galaxy Entertainment Group are all set to expire in 2022.
This year’s Policy Address also indicated an audit on gaming operator’s electronic accounting records will be conducted next year, together with specific audits on problems identified by the this year’s junket operator audit.
Junkets reshaping
The creation of a junket-proposed debtor database was also discussed at different occasions in 2017, with its implementation still pending approval of the Office for Personal Data Protection (GPDP).
The junket database platform was first proposed by the Macau Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, considered by the Gaming Inspection and Co-Ordination Bureau (DICJ) to be the most active player in discussing the arrangements with GPDP.
The DICJ had previously claimed that the database would be used to verify the credit status of VIP gaming patrons. No information has been provided yet on a possible start date for operations of the database.
The year also saw the inclination of junket business to diversifying their portfolio in the city and abroad, with Suncity expanding operations in Vietnam as a casino developer, Tak Chun investing in the local art market, and other junkets promoting their services as lending business.
Tobacco prevention law
After much debate and lobbying from casino operators, the Tobacco Prevention and Control Law was approved at the Legislative Assembly (AL) in September, to be effective on January 1, 2018.
In July, legislators had voted on the law, approving the majority of the alterations to the law, but setting aside the vote on the articles involving smoking rooms inside casinos. According to previous reports, gaming operators will have until January 1, 2019 to install new smoking lounges or update their current ones to meet new standards.
The Tobacco Prevention and Control Law was enforced in 2011, being expanded to cover bars, dance halls, saunas and massage establishments in 2015. Casinos were covered from January 1 of 2013, but only partially, since the six gaming operators were allowed to create specific smoking areas, which could not be more than 50 per cent of the total area for the public.
In October 2014, ‘smoking areas’ were replaced by closed smoking lounges with a negative pressure system and independent ventilation, with smoking being prohibited in the mass gaming areas of the casinos and permitted only in some areas of VIP rooms. In the summer of 2015, a bill was widely passed totally prohibiting smoking in casinos, but the government backed down on the initial promise of ‘zero tolerance’.
