{"id":26421,"date":"2022-01-20T08:33:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T11:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=26421"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:05:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:05:30","slug":"legal-experts-say-macau-gaming-bill-signals-a-break-with-the-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/legal-experts-say-macau-gaming-bill-signals-a-break-with-the-past","title":{"rendered":"Legal experts say Macau gaming bill signals a break with the past"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Experts say the bill shifts the focus from development to readjustment of the gaming industry’s size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- Ant\u00f3nio Lobo Vilela<\/strong>, an expert on gaming law, and Pedro Cort\u00e9s<\/strong>, managing partner of law firm Rato, Ling, Lei & Cort\u00e9s, see Macau’s new gaming law amendment bill as signalling a break with the past. In interviews with Macau News Agency, they say the bill, which will see its\u00a0first debate on January 24<\/a> is a game-changer in several ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lobo Vilela said the bill entails “cuts from the past” by shifting the focus from development to industry-scale realignment. He highlights proposed measures, such as the new capping arrangements for gaming tables and slot machines and the requirement for casinos to be located on properties owned by the franchisee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also referred to the introduction of targets for\u00a0gross gaming revenue from tables and machines<\/a>\u00a0and the prohibition of revenue-sharing arrangements, which could lead to the end of satellite casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the proposal to allow up to six gaming concessions with a length of 10 years<\/a>, Vilela questioned who would invest in brick and mortar but added that “the current six operators will have to go to the game as they are loaded with properties with no value if they cannot operate casino gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilela noted that the bill contains many positive features for the industry<\/strong>. He said : \u201cA good thing about the law is that finally, one knows with clarity where the government intends to go.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Pedro Cort\u00e9s said that the bill is “a game-changer to the extent that finally,\u00a0the Macau government is serious about economic diversification\u00a0<\/strong>and sustainable development, limiting the sector’s weight in the economy”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\u00a0Cortez questioned whether this was the best approach<\/strong>\u00a0“given the current economic conditions.” For Cortez, increased concession responsibilities and government oversight are key elements reflected in provisions such as the\u00a0mid-term review of the concessionaire’s performance<\/a>\u00a0of contractual obligations every three years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts say the bill shifts the focus from development to readjustment of the gaming industry’s size.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":26452,"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 new gaming law amendment bill signifies a fundamental shift from industry development to realignment, introducing stringent measures such as GGR targets, capping gaming assets, and mandating casino ownership by franchisees. Industry experts highlight the profound impact on existing operators, potential M&A implications for satellite casinos, and increased government oversight aimed at economic diversification.","focusai_entities":"Ant\u00f3nio Lobo Vilela, Pedro Cort\u00e9s, Rato, Ling, Lei & Cort\u00e9s, Macau News Agency","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Concessionaire Investment Impact","query":"How will the new requirement for casinos to be located on franchisee-owned properties and the 10-year concession term impact capital expenditure planning and long-term investment strategies for current and prospective Macau operators?"},{"label":"Satellite Casino M&A","query":"What are the projected M&A implications for existing satellite casinos and their associated junket operations given the prohibition of revenue-sharing arrangements and the mandate for franchisee-owned properties?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[157,16338],"tags":[23911,23906],"class_list":["post-26421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26421","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=26421"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26427,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26421\/revisions\/26427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}