Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING JULY 2018 12 Monetary Authority of Macao issues money exchange warning Byron Yip appointed Okada Manila COO Former Deutsche Bank and Union Gaming banker Byron Yip has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Okada Manila. Yip, who has also joined the board of directors of Okada Manila operator Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc, takes over the role from Steve Wolstenholme, who announced in April he was joining Vietnam IR project Hoiana. Yip confirmed his appointment to IAG but declined a request for comment. However Union Gaming’s Head of Asia Equity Research, Grant Govertsen, described his former colleague’s recruitment as “quite a coup for Okada Manila. “The addition of Byron comes at a great time for Okada as the property is at an inflection point and his skillset should prove instrumental in turning Okada into a premier Manila property,” Govertsen said. THE MONETARY AUTHORITY of Macao (AMCM) has called for “all financial institutions to establish sound risk management for the provision of any authorized financial services” following the latest crackdown on the use of Union Pay cards. In early June, Authorities removed Union Pay POS terminals from pawnshops inside a number of Cotai integrated resorts, namely those operated by Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment Group and Melco Resorts. Notably, the crackdown has been limited to those shops operating inside resorts, with pawnshops and jewelry stores located on the streets unaffected. Responding to media reports, the AMCM said that, “Banks are obliged to perform adequate due diligence on and ongoing monitoring of the merchants in order to prevent the abuse of POS machines from conducting illegal activities. “AMCM stresses that the Authority does not forbid banks from establishing business relationships with merchants of particular industries, but requires banks to equip themselves with appropriate and adequate risk management measures before they can provide financial services to merchants for normal business. “AMCM would like to call the attention of the public that they should conduct money exchange and/or remittance transactions through authorized institutions in order to avoid unnecessary losses.”