The Second Standing Committee of Macau’s Legislative Assembly has completed its discussion on the Bill on Illegal Gaming Offences, which will soon be put to a final vote after the full Legislative Assembly (AL) resumes this month.
The bill introduces a number of new laws to regulate illegal betting offences, including new provisions to allow investigators to conduct night-time and undercover searches for evidence, as well as a new statute to include “money exchange gangs” as a criminal offence.
The Chairman of the Commission, Chan Chak Mo, said the money exchange provision focuses on business whereby any person who conducts illegal currency exchange as a business and where the illegal currency exchange act is for gaming purposes will be in breach of the law.
Chan also emphasized that the bill not only covers casinos but anywhere within the city’s integrated resorts.
‘’The Government has made a lot of changes in the bill,” he said. “At the beginning it did not criminalize the illegal exchange of currency, but perhaps the situation has worsened and the government’s stance has changed.”
Chan added that the Second Standing Committee will refer the bill to the full AL as soon as possible, and that the bill will come into effect on the day following the government’s announcement after the vote.
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