Members of Macau’s Legislative Assembly have noted that the final version of the new law on gaming credit adds a provision on the “termination of the qualification of the concessionaire to engage in gaming credit activities”, a clause that allows the Chief Executive to terminate the provision of credit by concessionaires on the basis of significant public interest.
The second standing committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly discussed the gaming credit law on Friday, and members of the committee told media afterwards that the bill is expected to come into effect on 1 August this year. The bill had already passed a general vote in the Legislative Assembly on 18 May 2023.
The final text of the bill stipulates that gaming credit business can only be carried out by Macau’s concessionaires, confirming that gaming junkets are prohibited from engaging in such business themselves. However, junkets may enter into an agency contract with the concessionaire to carry out credit behavior with players on behalf of the concessionaire, provided that the money lent or recovered in the process belongs to the concessionaire. Such agent contracts require the approval of the Secretary for Economy and Finance.
The latest version of the bill adds this new provision on “termination of eligibility to engage in credit business” which grants the Chief Executive the power to terminate without regard to whether the concessionaire has fulfilled its relevant obligations.
However, the bill does not specify in detail what constitutes “significant public interest” or the circumstances under which it might be deemed to be in the public interest.
The bill does, however, establish a transitional period before the bill comes into force whereby the credit behavior of junkets will be dealt with in accordance with the old legislation.
As previously reported by IAG, the new credit law also prohibits casino management companies from issuing credit.
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