On Dec. 15, Macau Legislative Council President Chan Chak Mo is proposing to the Macau government to ban licensed drug distributors from lending directly to players who use local casinos, which he has been tasked to review draft legislation on. In addition, he revealed this to the media after a closed committee meeting in the parliament building.

Suggestion:

Last May, Macau’s legislative council announced its first approval of an updated bill on gambling loans issued by junket and casino concessionaries. Since then, the bill has been reviewed by Chan’s Committee.

In addition, the first bill, dubbed the “Legal System of Credit Concession to Casino Gambling,” said that only junk shops and casino concessions will be allowed to issue credit. However, it suggested that junk shops should sign a formal contract with all game concessions they are related to on the issuance of loans.

And now, Mr. Chan said, “The government of Macau is now suggesting that it no longer allows junk food to issue credit.” However, Macau’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, an official who oversees casino sector policy, and Adriano Marques Ho, the head of the casino regulator, also made an appearance at the committee meeting, but left without speaking to reporters.

After the meeting, Chan clarified, “The government’s proposal removes the current provision that allows game promoters to issue game credits under their names.” Additionally, according to GGRAsia, he added, “This proposal maintains rules that can help game promoters bring customers in, provide them with services, and in doing so, earn commissions for their services.”

Junklet workflow in Macau is not good:

Currently, Macau’s junk stores don’t have half the volume and business scale compared to their heyday a few years ago. Official data shows the number of junk stores dropped by an annual average of 21.7% to 36 in the first month of 2023.

In this regard, VIP Baccarat, a “game of choice” for high-value Macao gamblers, found information from government data that whether junkets were issued on loans or operated by casino operators themselves, accounted for only 24.1% of Macau’s total casino revenue during the third quarter.

But according to the current regulatory framework for 10-year gaming permits, junk shops on the local scale, known as “game promoters,” still held the ability to issue loans themselves. In response, Mr. Chan said in his comments on Dec. 15, “His committee members had no problem accepting the government’s latest proposal for betting credit rules.”

In addition, he told reporters, “Casino concessionholders are licensed gaming companies, they are listed, and they have a more comprehensive framework than other parties can provide in managing and controlling gambling-related credit.”

In this regard, he also said that the legislation will be discussed in more detail in February, later than expected, and that a final resolution will be made at the plenary session of the National Assembly afterwards. It also predicts that it could take nearly four months for such a law to take effect according to the aforementioned legislative resolution, which means that the possible time for it to take effect may be mid-2024. 바카라사이트