Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon, who is also the spokesman for the government’s Executive Council (ExCo), announced on Friday that the government is drafting a bill proposing that only gaming concessionaires and junket operators – officially known as gaming promoters, can be credit-granting entities, while management companies working for casinos will not be able to grant gamblers credit.
Cheong made the remarks during a press conference at Government Headquarters along with Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) Director Adriano Marques Ho on Friday.
The bill proposes to replace Macau’s current law regulating the city’s casino credit operations, which was enacted in 2004.
The law in 2004 stipulated that gaming concessionaires and their sub-concessionaires, gaming promoters and the management companies hired by the concessionaires can grant gamblers credit. Management companies, according to the current law, can enter into agreements with gaming concessionaires to provide credit.
Sub-concessionaires ceased to exist when Macau’s new gaming law took effect on January 1 this year.
According to the bill, gaming promoters must enter into a contract with the respective gaming concessionaires to qualify to become a credit-granting entity, while management companies cannot.
The bill proposes to redefine the obligations and penalties for any violation, and proposes that the DICJ will be the future supervision entity.
Ho said that the bill will be passed to the Legislative Assembly (AL) in due course for debate and vote.
Macau passed a new gaming law last year to reshape the city’s gaming industry, as well as a junket law to regulate the city’s gaming promoters.
Secretary for Administration and Justice André Cheong Weng Chon addresses Friday’s Executive Council press conference at Government Headquarters about the government’s newly drafted casino credit bill. – Photo by GCS
