• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Sunday 1 June 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • 中文
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • 中文
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

DICJ holds concessionaire, junket consultation on re-licensing: a who’s who of Macau’s big guns in the room

Andrew W Scott, Ben Blaschke and Victoria Man by Andrew W Scott, Ben Blaschke and Victoria Man
Tue 21 Sep 2021 at 07:12
DICJ holds concessionaire, junket consultation on re-licensing: a who’s who of Macau’s big guns in the room
108
SHARES
2.7k
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) told senior representatives of the city’s gaming industry on Monday that it will consider both Macau’s employment market and ROI for investors in determining the length of licenses to be issued under the upcoming re-tendering process for Macau’s gaming concessionaires.

The update formed one of the few pieces of new information provided by the government during a face-to-face consultation with Macau’s casino and junket operators, held yesterday on the fifth floor of the DICJ offices at the World Trade Center on the Macau peninsula as part of the 45-day public consultation process announced last week to consider proposed amendments to the gaming law.

The DICJ also confirmed its intention to scrap the city’s sub-concession system, warning that it could create instability by noting such a system could in theory lead to the issuance of any number of sub-concessions or even sub-sub-concessions.

In determining the duration of licenses, which could be reduced from the current 20-year term, the DICJ said it would consider ROI for investors – a positive sign all round given recent concerns exhibited by the stock market, which saw 26% stripped from the value of Macau’s casino companies in just 24 hours last week.

Notably, the DICJ also said it was still considering whether, and if so how, a law requiring a minimum 10% of share capital be held by Macau locals needs to be amended after SJM’s Rui Cunha asked for more clarity. This alone suggests the government remains at least somewhat flexible when it comes to amending Macau’s gaming law.

Originally scheduled to run for two-and-a-half hours from 3pm, Monday’s consultation ran for just 70 minutes instead.

IAG arrived at the Lotus Room on the 5th floor of the DICJ’s World Trade Center office at 2:30pm and proceeded to catalog a veritable who’s who of the Macau gaming industry, complete with their various corporate entourages, file into the room. All seemed keen to learn more about the amendments and to be seen to be supportive of the Macau government process.

Although a sizeable number of company CEOs were in Hong Kong and unable to attend due to the short notice of just six days (Macau currently has a 14-day quarantine period for arrivals from Hong Kong), those who did fill some of the 190 seats on offer in the room included Kevin Kelley, Neto Valente, Bob Drake, Raymond Yap and Buddy Lam from Galaxy Entertainment Group; David Sisk and Raymond Lo from Melco Resorts; Han Tian, Catarina Lio and Irene Wong from MGM China; Dylan Williams and Sam Chong Nin from Sands China; Rui Cunha and Frank McFadden from SJM; Linda Chen, Ian Michael Coughlan, Maggie Guan and Katharine Liu from Wynn Macau; Tak Chun CEO Levo Chan; Suncity Group CFO Philip Wong and Paradise Entertainment Group’s Jay Chun.

Most arrived considerably early and there was unmistakable tension in the room before proceedings kicked off precisely at 3pm, starting with a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation by the Chief of the DICJ’s legal division, Hoi Song U. The presentation essentially mirrored the consultation document released in the late afternoon of 14 September.

The panel comprised three representatives of the DICJ, including director Adriano Ho, and three representatives of the Secretary of Economy and Finance.

At 3:20pm, a question-and-answer session began – initially with those who had pre-registered their intention to ask a question, followed by questions without notice from anyone present in the room. Each of Macau’s big six concessionaires used their “question” as an opportunity to essentially deliver a speech of five minutes or so, addressing the panel which comprised three representatives of the DICJ, including director Adriano Ho, and three representatives of the Secretary of Economy and Finance.

The DICJ director remained completely silent throughout, never uttering a word, leaving the speaking predominantly to two representatives from the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance – Chief of Office Ku Mei Leng and consultant Ian I Lin.

Notably, five of the six concessionaire statements contained no real questions or comments on the proposed gaming law amendments. Some made respectful requests for more clarity on some of the proposals, some mentioned the short notice gave little time to prepare questions and some mentioned their intention to follow up with written submissions to the DICJ later in the 45-day consultation period. No doubt the presence of the media in the room dampened any desire of the concessionaires to raise substantive questions or push back against any of the government’s proposals.

The one exception was SJM’s Rui Cunha, who while also confirming the company’s intention to later submit a written document, did specifically note that a short license period would be perceived negatively by investors. In line with the other concessionaires, Cunha asked for more clarity on several matters raised in the consultation document, including the promotion and support of local employees, the proposed additional capital requirements for concessionaires, and the proposed increased Macau local shareholding requirement. He raised the question of whether “Macau local” simply meant Macau permanent resident.

However, all six concessionaires overwhelming reserved their time to emphasize their agreement that the 20-year-old Macau gaming law needed updating for the present-day circumstances of Macau and their support for the proposed changes and general thrust of the consultation document. They also made the usual platitudes we have come to expect – support for the Macau and central governments, the Greater Bay Area development concept, the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the diversification of the Macau economy and the social stability of Macau society. The concessionaires also acknowledged their corporate social responsibility (CSR) obligations such as supporting SMEs, local procurement, and various employee welfare development, cultural and sporting initiatives.

Speaking on behalf of the concessionaires (in order of appearance in the session) were Raymond Lo of Melco (who spoke in Cantonese), Linda Chen of Wynn (who spoke in Mandarin), Rui Cunha of SJM (who spoke in Portuguese which was then translated by an assistant into Cantonese), Han Tian of MGM (who spoke in Mandarin), Buddy Lam of Galaxy (who spoke in Cantonese) and Dylan Williams of Sands (who spoke in English which was translated into Cantonese by Sam Chong Nin).

Wynn Macau’s Linda Chen addresses the panel during Monday’s consultation.

There were, however, some substantive questions and proposals put forward by junket and agent representatives given proposed amendments to increase the potential criminal liability of concessionaires for the actions of junkets in their properties and to make accepting certain cash deposits a criminal offence under the gaming law.

On the topic of deposit criminalization, one junket representative suggested implementation of a mainland China-style “social credit” system for players to provide more clarity around their creditworthiness. He also proposed providing more open and convenient money exchange facilities to reduce crime related to “money exchange gangs”.

Tak Chun’s Johnson CHAN Ka Fai called on the government to address the ongoing issue of enforcement of gambling debts accrued legally in Macau, asking the Macau government whether they could work with the central government to aid enforceability in mainland China. The head of Lucky Star called for junket taxes to be based on money collected from players rather than on the result at the gaming table, presumably also referring to issues of bad debt.

No answer was given to these suggestions during the consultation session.

The Macau government is due to hold four more consultation sessions, all with the public, on 29 September, 9 October, 13 October and 19 October.

RelatedPosts

10 Years Ago – Reimagining Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka gazettes draft bill to establish Gambling Regulatory Authority

Sat 31 May 2025 at 06:03
Robert Goldstein to step aside as LVS Chairman and CEO from March 2026, replaced by Patrick Dumont

Robert Goldstein: Macau gaming market challenged by increased competition, online gambling and US-Sino trade war

Fri 30 May 2025 at 06:42
Macau’s hotel occupancy rate reaches 89% in July

Macau’s hotel occupancy rate climbed to 87.8% in April

Thu 29 May 2025 at 17:27
On the brink

On the brink

Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:27
Load More
Tags: Adriano HoBob DrakeBuddy LamcasinoCatarina LioconcessionairesDavid SiskDICJDylan WilliamsGaming Inspection and Coordination BureauGaming Lawgaming licenseHan TianKevin KelleyLinda ChenMacauNeto ValenteRaymond LoRaymond YapRui Cunhasub-concession
Share43Share8
Andrew W Scott, Ben Blaschke and Victoria Man

Andrew W Scott, Ben Blaschke and Victoria Man

A former sports journalist in Sydney, Australia, Ben has been Managing Editor of Inside Asian Gaming since early 2016. He played a leading role in developing and launching IAG Breakfast Briefing in April 2017 and oversees as well as being a key contributor to all of IAG’s editorial pursuits.

Born in Australia, Andrew is a gaming industry expert and media publisher, commentator and journalist who moved to Hong Kong in 2005 and then Macau in 2009, when he founded O MEDIA, one of Macau’s largest media companies and parent company of Inside Asian Gaming.

Born in Macau, Victoria has a multicultural and diverse work background. She is currently responsible for all events organized by O MEDIA and its flagship media brand Inside Asian Gaming, including the Asian Gaming Power 50 Black Tie Gala Dinner, the G2E Asia Awards and the Macau After Dark series.

Current Issue

Editorial – Foreigner-only casinos: Seize the day

Editorial – Foreigner-only casinos: Seize the day

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:38

I was recently asked by someone working at a foreigner-only casino for my thoughts on the outlook for the Asian...

On the brink

On the brink

by Pierce Chan
Thu 29 May 2025 at 13:27

The transition period for Macau’s 11 satellite casinos is set to expire at the end of this year, after which...

A moral defense of gambling

A moral defense of gambling

by Andrew Russell
Wed 28 May 2025 at 18:19

Economist Andrew Russell explores the differences between community benefit and in-principle arguments for the existence of a legal gambling industry...

Face to face

Face to face

by Ben Blaschke
Wed 28 May 2025 at 18:08

Konami caught the eye at the recent G2E Asia show in Macau with its SYNK Vision Tables, which utilize facial...

Evolution Asia
Aristocrat
GLI
Mindslot
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
Nustar
Jumbo

Related Posts

10 Years Ago – Reimagining Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka gazettes draft bill to establish Gambling Regulatory Authority

by Newsdesk
Sat 31 May 2025 at 06:03

A draft bill that would establish an official regulator for the Sri Lankan gaming industry, to be known as the Gambling Regulatory Authority, has taken another step forward after being gazetted. According to the Sri Lanka Mirror, the official announcement...

RGB International signs agreement to distribute KL Saberi and Atlas gaming machines

After record-breaking sales in 2024, Malaysia’s RGB sees 1Q25 profit fall to

by Newsdesk
Sat 31 May 2025 at 05:53

Malaysian gaming product distributor RGB International Bhd has reported group-wide revenue of MYR73.6 million (US$17.3 million) for the three months to 31 March 2025, down 65% year-on-year due to a lower number of products sold. The figure was also 79%...

Robert Goldstein to step aside as LVS Chairman and CEO from March 2026, replaced by Patrick Dumont

Robert Goldstein: Macau gaming market challenged by increased competition, online gambling and US-Sino trade war

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 30 May 2025 at 06:42

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein has bemoaned the lingering impact of the US-China trade war, as well as increased domestic and regional competition and the rise of online gambling across Asia for sustained flatness in the...

Industry hopes Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable can establish “common ground” with those opposing legal casinos

Industry hopes Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable can establish “common ground” with those opposing legal casinos

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 30 May 2025 at 05:38

Industry figures taking part in the Thai Entertainment Complex Roundtable (TECR) next Thursday 5 June hope to find common ground with those who oppose Thailand’s Entertainment Complex Bill, citing the opportunity to use an evidence-based approach to achieve outcomes that...



IAG

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE
  • 中文

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • 中文
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2024
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • 中文
  • English