Sands China President and Executive Director Wilfred Wong said Thursday that the potential use of a digital RMB on Macau gaming floors would prove a positive for the industry by eliminating the need to exchange cash.
The issue was raised at a business lunch hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in Macao at which Dr Wong delivered a talk on the state of casino concessions in the SAR.
Asked his thoughts on the prospect of China’s Digital RMB becoming legal tender in Macau, the Sands China executive said, “I don’t think it will make too much of a difference because right now people from China already have a limit on how much money they can withdraw from the ATM. That’s almost digital. They have to stand in front of the ATM with their photograph to draw out the money.
“The underground banking circuit is gone. We are being asked to do mass gaming, premium mass gaming and for people who have legitimate and legal means of transferring money – maybe they have companies in Hong Kong or Macau so they have the money.
“The government does not want to encourage illicit gambling, so if there was a digital currency, that we could use, an RMB, to play on the gaming floor, it’s easier. Now [players] have to change their money from RMB to Hong Kong dollars so I think if that happens, it may not be a bad thing if we can start collecting RMB.”does not want to encourage illicit gambling, so if there was a digital currency, that we could use, an RMB, to play on the gaming floor, it’s easier. Now [players] have to change their money from RMB to Hong Kong dollars so I think if that happens, it may not be a bad thing if we can start collecting RMB.”
The potential for digital RMB to be used in Macau’s casinos was examined at length last year in a note from brokerage Bernstein, which suggested the digital currency could eventually lead Beijing to loosen its capital controls.
“If Digital RMB becomes a legal tender in Macau, a mainland Chinese customer would be able to directly use Digital RMB for casino play without going through the usual process of converting RMB into HKD (Hong Kong dollar) cash and back again to RMB,” Bernstein analysts said at the time.
In October last year, the Macau government announced a draft law called Legal Regime for the Establishment and Issuance of Currency, which allows for the use of digital currency as legal tender, although there is no specific timeline for digital currency to be introduced.
In addressing Thursday’s business lunch, Dr Wong also spoke about the direction of the industry in Macau, mentioning the high cost of operating a five-star hotel and the fact that Macau has stopped granting land to concessionaires due to land shortage, meaning it is difficult to build any more resorts or development projects.
However, he noted that “one of the ways out for Macau is Hengqin, which can bridge the gap. Hengqin already has the infrastructure and Zhuhai has the metro to Hengqin … now the challenge in Hengqin is people, capital and transportation.”
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