Macau gaming concessionaires to be reviewed every three years

According to the gaming law amendment bill, Macau casino operators will be subject to a review by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) every three years.

Macau.- More details continue to emerge about Macau’s proposed amendments to gaming legislation. The latest detail picked out from the bill published late last week is that gaming concessionaires will be subject to a review every three years.

The review will be carried out to establish if casino operators are complying with the obligations in their concession contracts. If the review detects a failure, the operator will need to rectify the situation within a deadline set by the Secretary for Economy and Finance.

The government-backed bill proposing amendments to Macau’s gaming regulations would retain six concessionaires but end the current sub-concession system. The concession period will be for a maximum of 10 years but can be extended for a further three years in exceptional circumstances.

The new gaming bill would allow junket operators to each provide services to only one casino operator and would prohibit junkets from turning to third parties to conduct their business except in “situations deemed necessary by their partners, members of the management body or employees.”

The bill stipulates that locals must hold 15 per cent of shares in concessionaires instead of 10 per cent as it is currently required. Operators will be required to notify the government of capital allocations, but there are no restrictions as initially feared. 

A previous controversial proposal to elect “delegates” to Macau’s gaming concessions appears to have been dropped. Taxes haven’t changed either. Macau has an effective tax rate of 39 per cent on its concessionaires.