The Macau government is proposing to ban Macau’s licensed junkets from issuing credit to gamblers using local casinos.
According to Friday’s remarks by Chan Chak Mo (pictured), chairman of the Standing Committee of the Legislative Council of Macau, which was tasked with scrutinizing the draft legislation on the subject.
He was interviewing the media after a closed-door meeting of the committee at the Capitol.
Macau’s legislative council first approved a new bill on casino concessions and junket-issuing gambling credit in May. The bill has since been under review by the Chan legislative committee.
The original bill, titled “Casino Gambling’s Legal System,” stated that only casino concessioners and junk e-mails will be allowed to offer credit. Although junk e-mails suggested that a formal contract should be made for the purpose of giving credit, anyone game concessioner they are connected to can do so.
The Macau government is now suggesting that junkets will no longer be allowed to be issued with credit, Mr Chan said.
Macau’s economic finance minister, Ray Wai Nong, and Adriano Marquez Ho, director of the Game Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the Macau casino regulator, attended a committee meeting on Friday but left without speaking to reporters.
After the meeting, Chan clarified that the government’s proposal now removes “a provision that allows gaming promoters to issue game credits in their names.”
The proposal “maintains the rules we have with casino concessioners with agent contracts,” he said, adding that “game promoters can attract customers, provide services and earn commissions for services.”
Macau’s junkets currently have nothing like the scope and amount of business it had in its heyday until a few years ago. Official data showed Macau’s number of junkets fell 21.7% year-on-year to 36 in January this year.
VIP baccarat, a game chosen by Macau’s big players, whether managed by casino operators themselves or issued credit cards by junk mail, accounted for just 24.1% of Macau casino total game sales in the third quarter, according to government data.
But even under the current new regulatory framework for 10-year gaming rights that began in January, junk mail, officially known locally as the “gaming promoter,” still had the ability to issue credit directly.
In comments on Friday, Chan said his commissioners had “no problem” with the government’s latest proposal for betting credit rules.
“Casino concessions are licensed gaming companies, and they have a more comprehensive framework than other parties can provide in managing and controlling gambling-related credit,” Chan told reporters.
BY: 홀짜게임