Macau: suspicious gaming transaction reports up 169.6% in first nine months of 2023

The gaming industry accounted for 2,335 suspicious transaction reports.

Macau.- Macau’s Financial Intelligence Office has reported that the number of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) filed by casino operators increased by 169.9 per cent to 2,335 in the first nine months of the year. This represented 73.5 per cent of all STRs.

The figure compares with just 866 reports submitted by gaming firms in the same period last year, when gaming accounted for just 51.6 per cent of STRs. However, the rise is logical given Macau’s reopening from pandemic restrictions at the start of this year. Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first nine months rose by 305.3 per cent year-on-year to MOP128.95bn (US$16.01bn).

Macau’s casinos are mandated to report any transaction amounting to MOP500,000 or more to the government. Such reports do not necessarily suggest any suspicious activity. The aggregate number of STRs received by the financial watchdog in the first nine months of 2023 reached 3,178, an 89.5 per cent increase year-on-year. Financial institutions and insurance companies reported a marginal increase in flagged transactions from 611 to 617. The other institutions category accounted for 226 reports, up 13 per cent.