The Second Standing Committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly continued discussing the city’s new junket law, Legal Framework for Operating Games of Chance in Casinos, on Friday, with Committee Chairman Chan Chak Mo revealing the bill is expected to be presented to the Legislative Assembly in mid-December.
Chan noted that during Friday’s meeting, the committee discussed details of the bill regarding deposits made by junkets and agents.
“The bill prohibits junkets, management companies or agents from facilitating deposits of chips or money for gaming purposes,” he said.
“If a junket, the management company or agent receives funds from another person for gaming purposes, they will be subject to administrative penalties. If the funds are not used for gaming purposes, they will be subject to criminal penalties.”
Chan added that under the new law, gaming junkets and agents will be allowed to open their own accounts with concessionaires, into which they can deposit gaming-related chips and cash, but these deposits cannot belong to other players or other people – the funds in such accounts must be owned by the gaming junkets or agents themselves. Such accounts would be to facilitate their ongoing operations, for example, to assist with the exchange of chips.
He also pointed out that in the future, concessionaires can open proprietary accounts for players to deposit chips and funds for gaming, but they must comply with anti-money laundering laws and keep records of transactions in their accounts.
Chan expects the committee to sign the opinion on the bill on 9 December, and it is expected to be presented to the Legislative Assembly in mid-December.
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