Committee chairman Chan Chak Mo has revealed that the Legislative Council\u2019s second standing committee is expected to sign its final draft on June 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Macau.- Macau\u2019s proposed new general gambling law is coming close to a final vote. It was expected that the bill would be signed and sent to the plenary for a vote on June 10 after the Legislative Council\u2019s second standing committee has completed its reading<\/a> However, government legal advisors have made some last-minute changes to the draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legislator Chan Chak Mo\u00a0<\/strong>has now revealed that the second standing committee will sign its final draft on June 15.\u00a0After that, the Legislative Assembly will hold a plenary meeting, likely on June 21, to vote on the changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important changes involves the shareholder participation at which point shareholders may not hold interests in another concessionaire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chan Chak Mo said: “Concessionaires, as well as shareholders with an amount equal to or greater than five per cent, may not directly own any capital of another concessionaire…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat is, they cannot hold even one per cent directly, while indirectly they cannot hold a stake greater than five per cent. With this change, the Government can prevent collusion among concessionaires to strengthen their competitiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another change involves\u00a0the listing of gaming concessionaires on foreign stock exchanges<\/strong>. A previous draft had allowed this on the authorisation of the chief executive. The new draft prohibits a franchisee from listing directly, but still allows its parent company to go public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Chan, several other areas will be further defined via chief executive administrative regulations, including areas such as the concessionaire\u2019s social responsibility or shareholder suitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n