Retendering21-22

jul22 On June 23, 2022, the Amendment to the Gaming Law, 7/2022, became law.  The influence of the PRC was not hidden. Rather startling for a casino law, the new first policy goal listed is the safeguard of national security and the security of the Macau SAR.  Legal gambling has never before been singled out as a threat to national security.  But “national security” gives the government unlimited power.  So, if Macau’s Chief Executive decides to terminate a casino concession, he is no longer bound by the criminal laws. What constitutes national security?  The definition has been stretched to include economic, technological, cyber, and financial security, especially money flowing out of the Chinese Mainland.  The PRC has always hated the massive amounts of cash, estimated at US$150 billion a year, much of it escaping through Macau.  There is actually another new policy goal requiring casinos to prevent illegal cross-border flow of capital. It is difficu...

mai22 Pereira Coutinho considera que as cedências que estão a ser feitas na nova lei do jogo mostram que o Governo não foi capaz de ouvir a sociedade e o sector. No entanto, o deputado alerta para o facto de as alterações serem irrelevantes, caso não haja divisão de lucros nos mesmos moldes da actual lei. https://hojemacau.com.mo/2022/05/20/jogo-coutinho-diz-que-cedencias-espelham-falhanco-do-governo/ mai22 New details of the amendment to the  Gaming Law  were disclosed at the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL) meeting on Tuesday 17 May, including a proposal that should any concessionaire be suspended from operating for one month to one year due to non-compliance, the dismissal of an employee is to be treated as dismissal without cause. Chairman of the Second Standing Committee of the AL, Chan Chak Mo, revealed at a press conference that the government had added provisions to the new law, including the rule around employee dismissal. The bill also provides that the Chief Executiv...

  New casino concessions but less gaming: can Macau reinvent itself? Gone are the days when construction workers from mainland China, harbour coolies, and domestic workers would try their luck on wooden tables scattered across Macau’s narrow streets. [The contrast between the “Fantan” stalls – a Chinese game similar to roulette – which in previous centuries thrived in the city, and the 42 dazzling casinos that sprang up in the past two decades could not be greater. These opulent buildings decorated with flowery carpets, marble floors, ostentatious chandeliers, and pristine gambling tables have brought billions to a city that was once a sleepy fishing village. But its overreliance on casinos is more than ever being put into question, and Beijing wants to see major changes taking place. As Macau gears up to launch a public tender for six gaming licences, observers say that the former Portuguese colony is now left with no option but to forge a new identity for itself – the bil...