Macau’s amended gaming law takes effect today after it was published in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
The law, which was passed by the Legislative Assembly (AL) in its second reading on Tuesday, was signed by AL President Kou Hoi In and countersigned by Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng yesterday, the day of its promulgation. The law states that it was to take effect one day after its publication in the Official Gazette.
The new law, officially known as “Legal Framework for the Operations of Casino Games of Chance,” enables the government to grant up to six gaming concessions.
According to the previous version of the law dating back to 2001, the government could grant up to three gaming concessions. The three concessionaires were later able to grant a sub-concession each as the matter was unregulated by the previous law. The new law’s Article 7 implicitly bans the granting of sub-concessions.
The concessions will have a validity of up to 10 years. In exceptional circumstances, they can be extended by no more than three years.
The new law imposes a string of “social responsibilities” on the concessionaires, such as supporting the city’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and promoting the diversification of the local economy and “public interest activities”.
The concessionaires must have a share capital of at least 5 billion patacas, a huge increase from the 200 million patacas stipulated by the previous version of the law.
Concessionaires’ direct gaming tax rate remains unchanged at 35 percent of their gross gaming revenues. Moreover, there is are two additional levies (known as “contribuições” in Portuguese) of 2 percent and 3 percent respectively on the concessionaires’ gross gaming revenues (the rate stood previously at 4 percent) to raise funds for the government’s social welfare and cultural causes as well as Macau’s urban development. However, the chief executive may reduce the levies if the respective concessionaire is able to attract more foreign visitors to Macau, the new law states. The concrete terms for the levy’s reduction are to be regulated by supplementary legislation.
The new law allows the government to rescind a gaming concession if its operator poses a “threat” to national security or the security of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), in which case the operator does not have the right to indemnification.
The concession can also be rescinded for public interest reasons.
The new law bars concessionaires to be listed on the stock exchange. It also obliges the concessionaires to cooperate with officials from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) and Financial Services Bureau (DSF). The concessionaires are also required to promote responsible gambling.
The new law allows the chief executive to unilaterally rescind a concession “at any moment” in the public interest, in which case the concessionaire is, however, entitled to “fair” indemnification.
