The Macau SAR Government has introduced a new gaming credit bill which if passed would introduce a number of penalties, including a maximum fine of MOP$5 million (US$615,000), for any breach of the credit law by concessionaires.
The bill, titled Legal regime of credit concession for gambling in casinos, confirms the government’s updated stance on gaming credit by which only concessionaires will be permitted to issue such credit. Under the law, casino management firms would be prohibited from issuing credit, although licensed junkets would be permitted to enter contracts with concessionaires that would allow them to do so.
The bill also specifies that Macau’s gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), is the authority tasked with overseeing the credit actions of concessionaire and any junkets they reach agreements with. In order to ensure proper oversight, it states that “the supervisory staff of DICJ can perform supervisory duties at any time and without prior notice.
“When they (the monitoring officers) properly identify themselves, the entity must allow the monitoring officers access to the site where the monitoring is to be carried out and allow them to complete their monitoring work,” it reads.
The bill establishes a “penalty scheme” whereby if a concessionaire conducts credit operations through another entity or transfers credit qualifications in any form to another person, it will be liable for a fine of between MOP$2 million to MOP$5 million (US$246,000 to US$615,000). If a junket violates the relevant regulations, it will be liable for a fine of between MOP$600,000 and MOP$1.5 million (US$109,000 and US$185,000).
Article 8 of the bill, titled General Obligations of Credit Entities, is also a new regulation and contains three key provisions: the concessionaire or gaming junket is required to establish “an appropriate system of credit risk control and to conduct credit business in a prudent manner”, “to establish a clear system of credit activity records and to put in place security measures for data protection” and “to establish an effective and sound mechanism for handling customer complaints”.
The Macau Executive Council first announced amendments to the credit law last month, with the latest version of the bill having now been published on the website of the Macau Legislative Assembly, where it is currently scheduled for scrutiny.
“The bill will be referred to the Legislative Assembly for scrutiny and voting, and is still in draft form,” said DICJ Director Adriano Marques Ho stated at a press conference last month.
“The bill confirms that the only credit entities are the concessionaire and the gaming junkets, and that management companies will no longer be credit entities.”
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