After three months, the Second Standing Committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly is again discussing Macau’s new junket law, “Legal Framework for Operating Games of Chance in Casinos”, with the Committee reviewing the Government’s latest text on Monday. The text includes a new provision on “joint and several liability” as it pertains to concessionaire liability for the actions of their junket partners.
Committee Chairman, Chan Chak Mo, said that the latest version submitted by the Government has added a new Article 62 “Interpretation of the Law”, which explains what is meant by “activities of the casino”.
“The law provides that the concessionaire is jointly and severally liable for the activities of the gaming intermediary in the casino, but the definition of what constitutes an activity in the casino is very broad,” he said.
The new provision states in general terms, “A junket, its directors, agents and employees accepting deposits or chips from others in a casino must exchange the deposits or chips with the concessionaire and record the transaction, and the concessionaire will be jointly and severally liable.”
When asked by Inside Asian Gaming whether this meant that if the deposits or chips accepted by the junket are not used for gaming then the concessionaire will not be held jointly and severally liable, Chan replied, “It can be said like this. The deposits or chips accepted by the agent need to be proved to be used for gaming and there must be a record of the transaction with the concessionaire.
“This is because in the past, many junkets received deposits without the knowledge of the concessionaire.”
In the past, the Court of Final Appeal has ruled concessionaires as being jointly and severally liable in a number of cases involving deposits from junkets in Macau. For example, on 16 May, the Court of Final Appeal announced that Wynn Macau and MGM China were jointly and severally liable in nine cases involving deposits from junkets.
The Bill also provides that the joint and several liability of the junket, the management company and agents can be excluded if the concessionaire has exhausted all reasonable avenues to fulfill its regulatory obligations.
In addition, the government has changed the “scale of junket” operations. The Finance Secretary will now set the number of licensed junkets each year by way of a directive and will also declare the number of junkets each concessionaire is permitted to sign contracts with. The DICJ is required to publish this list of junkets online very year.
“There are now 46 [licensed junkets in Macau], but whether they can continue to operate in the future depends on whether the concessionaire signs a contract with them,” said Chan.
The Bill is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Assembly in mid-December and be passed in December.
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