{"id":15772,"date":"2021-03-12T15:55:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T15:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=15772"},"modified":"2026-04-23T21:09:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T00:09:48","slug":"calls-for-macau-regulator-to-clarify-legal-status-of-sub-agents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/calls-for-macau-regulator-to-clarify-legal-status-of-sub-agents","title":{"rendered":"Calls for Macau regulator to clarify legal status of sub-agents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The role of the sub-agents is similar to their partnering junkets but they are not currently licensed by the Macau gaming regulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Macau.- <strong>Gaming academic Ryan Ho Hong Wai<\/strong> has called on Macau&#8217;s gaming regulator to present a \u201cclear legal definition\u201d to clarify the role of sub-agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sub-agents, or \u201cgaming collaborators&#8221;, are not currently licensed by the Macau gaming regulator. As such, Ryan Ho Hong Wai says there is a lack of legal clarity regarding their occupational status and tax liability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sub-agents are mostly individuals from mainland China who <strong>work with licensed VIP gambling promoters <\/strong>to help organise bringing players from mainland China or elsewhere to gamble in Macau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year <strong>Macau\u2019s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ)<\/strong> reported that there were <strong><em><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/number-of-macau-junkets-continues-to-fall\" target=\"_blank\">85 junkets authorised to operate in the Special Administrative Region (SAR)<\/a><\/em><\/strong>. Authorities have confirmed they were willing to introduce changes to regulations applicable to junkets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ryan Ho Hong Wai said: &#8220;The <strong>city\u2019s VIP gaming room system<\/strong> has never received any formal recognition under Macau\u2019s existing gaming legal framework and that regulatory issue should be resolved.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The role of the sub-agents is similar to their partnering junkets but they are not currently licensed by the Macau gaming regulator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":15781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Macau's gaming regulator is being urged to provide a clear legal definition and licensing framework for \"sub-agents\" or \"gaming collaborators\" who facilitate VIP player acquisition for licensed junkets. Currently, these sub-agents lack formal occupational status and tax liability clarity, and the broader VIP gaming room system itself lacks official regulatory recognition. This regulatory ambiguity poses significant governance and compliance challenges within Macau's gaming sector.","focusai_entities":"Ryan Ho Hong Wai, Macau gaming regulator, Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, DICJ","focusai_location":"Macau, China","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.75), investor_analyst (0.85), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Sub-agent Regulatory Impact","query":"What specific governance framework adjustments is the DICJ considering to formally recognize and regulate sub-agents, and what is the projected timeline for implementation?"},{"label":"VIP Gaming System Future","query":"How might the formal recognition of the VIP gaming room system impact the operational models and B2B licensing requirements for existing junkets and concessionaires in Macau?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16338,158],"tags":[23908,23906],"class_list":["post-15772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-east-asia-news","category-slider-home","tag-gaming-regulation","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15812,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15772\/revisions\/15812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}