Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s 2nd Standing Committee, said yesterday that only gaming concessionaires can be credit-granting entities, while junket operators – officially known as gaming promoters, cannot become a credit-granting entity unless they have been formally authorised by their respective gaming concessionaires.
Addressing a press briefing after yesterday’s closed-door meeting reviewing the government’s gaming credit bill, Chan said the authorisation agreement must be in writing and notarised, the draft of which must be submitted to the Secretary for Economy and Finance for approval.
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.
The committee announced the legislative changes proposed by the government in December last year, and the government has provided a written explanation concerning the new proposals in the bill, according to Chan, who stressed that his committee members had accepted most of the contents of the explanation. He did not elaborate.
Chan said that the committee has received some signed letters from junket operators who did not agree with the new proposals as they believed that their credit-granting eligibility should be maintained because the current practice was effective and helped increase the government’s tax revenue. Chan said the letters had meanwhile been passed to the government for further consideration.
Chan said that the bill would require the gaming concessionaires to set up a credit-risk control system and to conduct their credit business in a prudent manner, including establishing a clear system of record for credit activities, putting in place security measures to protect data, and setting out standard operating procedures for credit.
Chan added that his committee has started writing its review report about the bill, which was expected to be submitted to the Legislative Assembly for its article-by-article debate and vote next month.
Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo (right), who chairs the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee, talks to reporters after the committee’s closed-door meeting reviewing the government’s gaming credit bill yesterday, while the committee’s secretary, Lam Lon Wai, looks on. – Photo courtesy of TDM
