Macau would increase regulations

Macau’s government would approve soon a plan to further regulate the junket casino operations.

Macau.- Paulo Martins Chan, director of Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) told the press the upcoming measure that the Chinese region’s government will implement soon in order to further control the local casino industry. Macau is one of the biggest gaming hubs worldwide, but authorities want to limit junket operations.

“We wish to proceed to the legislative procedure by the end of this year, or the beginning of next year,” explained Chan. According to the government official, Macau’s administration would create a new operative to carry out extra inspective work to regulate current casino activities. “[We] do not have enough people to handle the large workload [since] there are more casinos and the monitoring requirements are stricter.”

Further inspectors would be added to the city’s project, who will be in charge of limiting junket casino operations. Chan offered a press conference this week during the inauguration ceremony for the new heads of the Macau Monetary Authority (AMCM) and Financial Intelligence Office (GIF).

Resurgence in spending by VIP gamblers and a rise in mass market tourism in Macau helped gross gaming revenue grow 22 percent year-on-year during the second quarter of the year ended June 30. Despite a positive lookout in the long run and expectations of mass market segment to drive growth, Brokerage Bernstein said that share price for most of the six Macau casino stocks under its coverage won’t likely see a significant appreciation. GGR growth is expected to decelerate to 20 percent during the third quarter period and 8 percent during the last quarter because of a slowing VIP demand. For the overall 2017 results, Bernstein expects GGR to grow over 15 percent.