Professor Ryan Ho Hong Wai, a lecturer at the Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies of the Macao Polytechnic University has analysed the future of Macau’s satellite casinos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Macau.- A report by\u00a0Professor Ryan Ho Hong Wai<\/strong>, a lecturer at the Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies at the Macao Polytechnic University\u00a0claims Macau’s satellite casinos are \u201cfraught with opacity and undesirable business practices\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He says the end of the\u00a0current sub-concession system<\/a>\u00a0under Macau’s proposed new gaming law would provide more “transparency, legal certainty, and full oversight of the city\u2019s gaming industry.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n His paper also gaming policy, regulation, and the operations of satellite facilities in Macau, with research mainly conducted in the second half of 2018 and the end of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ho Hong Wai\u00a0said: \u201cEffective regulation of the gaming industry cannot be achieved without resolving the legacy issue of satellite casinos.\u00a0The new gaming law is likely to dissolve the deep-seated satellite casino system and mark a turning point for any third-party involvement in casino gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under Macau\u2019s proposed new gambling law, satellite casinos would be allowed to continue operating in the local market but would be given\u00a0a three-year grace period<\/a>\u00a0to link the ownership of their sites to one of the city\u2019s six franchises. However, Ho Hong Wai\u00a0cautioned that\u00a0authorities must still clarify relevant legal and technical issues<\/strong>, such as ownership issues, arising from the complexities of the proposed casino partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Macau Business, the paper states: \u201cOne obvious question to be considered is whether a casino property must be wholly owned by the concerned concessionaire, or whether there is a distinct possibility for other types of ownership for the premises on which a casino is operated, including regular subsidiary (more than 50 per cent), joint venture (50 per cent), associate company (20\u201350 per cent), or passive equity investment (less than 20 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another issue is the term “management company” in the Gaming Act. According to the draft law, these can operate casinos on behalf of franchisees, subject to state approval. Therefore, the management company is not just a gambling operator, but an authorised administrator who has the power to operate the casino on its own and even manage the franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper points out: \u201cWith such casino management arrangements, the management company can legitimately claim the status of a gaming operator. This provision has never been invoked as this might demolish the city\u2019s concession system for casino gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are currently 18 satellite casinos in Macau <\/strong>operating under licences attached to one of the six casino concessionaires but run by third parties in individually owned premises. Some 14 of those satellite casinos are operating under the licence of SJM Holdings Ltd, and the other four are tied to Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s been reported that seven satellite casinos plan to suspend operations<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>by mid-year. The casinos are said to have taken the decision due to the negative impact of repeated Covid-19 outbreaks, tighter visa requirements in the city and lack of cash flow. Four of the seven satellite casinos that plan to close belong to\u00a0Golden Dragon Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Professor Ryan Ho Hong Wai, a lecturer at the Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies of the Macao Polytechnic University has analysed the future of Macau’s satellite casinos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":25493,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"A report by Professor Ryan Ho Hong Wai from Macao Polytechnic University analyzes the future of Macau's satellite casinos under the proposed new gaming law, highlighting issues of opacity and the need for increased transparency and oversight. The new legislation aims to dissolve the sub-concession system, requiring satellite casinos to link ownership to one of the six main concessionaires within a three-year grace period. The paper also raises critical questions regarding permissible ownership structures and the definition of \"management company\" under the new Gaming Act, amidst reports of several satellite casinos planning to suspend operations.","focusai_entities":"Professor Ryan Ho Hong Wai, Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies, Macao Polytechnic University, SJM Holdings Ltd, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, Golden Dragon Group","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Ownership Structure Clarification","query":"What specific amendments or clarifications are anticipated from the Macau government regarding the permissible ownership structures (e.g., subsidiary, joint venture, associate company) for casino premises under the new gaming law, beyond the current 'wholly owned' implication?"},{"label":"Management Company Impact","query":"How might the Macau government's interpretation and potential invocation of the 'management company' provision in the Gaming Act fundamentally alter the existing concession system, and what are the governance implications for concessionaires and third-party operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,158],"tags":[23911,23906],"class_list":["post-28864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-slider-home","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-macau-casinos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28864","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=28864"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28878,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28864\/revisions\/28878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}