bet-credit law
ap24
The Legislative Assembly of Macau’s approval of gaming credit legislation, which prohibits junkets from extending gaming credit, is viewed as a significant step towards aligning with public policy in China and Macau.
In an interview with AGB, industry veteran Fredric Gushin endorsed the legislation, stating, “There are unique issues in China because gambling debts are not legal, making the credit decision more important. The junkets operated in an old-fashioned, underground manner, which was inconsistent with public policy in China, Macau, and indeed the world.”
Gushin believes that casinos should be responsible for everything that occurs within their premises, hence “the concept of junkets performing critical casino-related functions is inconsistent with that.”
He also noted the cessation of junkets owning the cage (physical cashier counters on casino floors), likening it to the gaming credit legislation.
The recent legislation, formally titled the “Legal Regime for Granting Credit for Games of Chance in Casinos,” was unanimously approved by the Legislative Assembly of Macau last Friday and is set to take effect on August 1st of this year.
This legislation mandates that only gaming operators can extend chips to gamblers as credit, while junkets are prohibited from engaging in credit activities. However, gaming operators have the option to enter into agency appointment contracts or agency outsourcing contracts with junkets, allowing them to assist in finding gamblers seeking credit and earning commissions in the process.
Additionally, any changes to agency contracts between gaming operators and junkets, along with their supplementary documents, must receive approval from the Secretary for Economy and Finance of Macau.
https://agbrief.com/intel/deep-dive/17/04/2024/banning-macau-junkets-from-insuring-credit-aligns-with-public-policy/
apr24
Macau’s Legislative Assembly gave on Friday a second and final reading to a bill amending rules about issuance of credit for casino gambling in the city. The bill – which received an unanimous ‘yes’ vote from legislators – becomes law on August 1.
The bill, “Legal regime of credit concession for games of chance in casinos”, stipulates that casino concessionaires will be the only entities permitted to provide gambling credit to patrons in the Macau market.
The bill passed with 29 votes in favour, at a plenary session of the assembly.
https://www.ggrasia.com/tighter-macau-bet-credit-rules-become-law-from-august-1/
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https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/al-approves-bill-limiting-gambling-credit-to-casinos.html
ap24
Macau’s new law on illegal gaming continues to be scrutinized by a Legislative Assembly subcommittee, with some legislators asking during Tuesday’s session whether the action of patrons altering chips that they don’t intend to put back into circulation would be a violation of the law.
This was the second time in as many days the committee has discussed the bill. According to the bill, “the forgery or alteration of chips, or the use of them, is punishable by one to five years’ imprisonment or a fine”.
This provision is regulated as “fraudulent gambling”.
However, Chairman of the Committee, Chan Chak Mo, pointed out that “In this Bill, the word is ‘or’ and not ‘and’. He added that some legislators were concerned about whether the legislation would be violated if a person altered the chips for collection but not use, referring to instances where a person alters a chip they plan to keep as a souvenir.
Chan noted that legislators had already put this concern to the government and were waiting for a response.
https://www.asgam.com/index.php/2024/04/09/macau-legislators-concerned-over-whether-altering-casino-chips-kept-as-souvenirs-violates-new-illegal-gaming-law/
Anyone found to be operating Mahjong for profits without government approval could face the prospect of being jailed for one year or 240 days of fines, lawmaker Chan Chak Mo has said.
According to the legislator who heads the panel currently poring over the bill designed to combat illegal gambling, those found to be engaged in Mahjong games are subject to a fine of MOP1,500 (US$186) to MOP20,000.
Chan was speaking to media after a closed-door meeting for over two hours.
The legislation seeks to broaden the scope of the definition of venues covered by the existing law.
“If a homeowner let out their unit for people to play mahjong on an hourly basis, it would be considered operating with the intention of making a profit without obtaining legal approval,” Chan said.
https://www.macaubusiness.com/for-profit-mahjong-play-to-be-made-illegal-under-new-legislation/
ap24
Some Macau Legislative Assembly members are concerned about the definition of “illegal gambling” under Macau’s new illegal gambling law, and specifically whether playing poker in a park or mahjong at home for cash qualifies.
The Second Standing Committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly discussed for the first time on Monday the new law, which passed a general vote in the legislature on 28 February. Monday’s meeting only allowed time for four clauses of the bill.
Among them, some members were concerned about the definition of “illegal gambling”. The Chairman of the Second Standing Committee, Chan Chak Mo, pointed out that “other laws do not have a very clear definition of illegal gambling. If it is a case of a few people betting with each other, or a few people playing poker and gambling in a park, or just a few people playing mahjong in a park, does it apply to the present law?”
Under the old law on illegal gambling (Law 8/96/M “Illegal Gambling”), the maximum penalty for betting outside of places authorized by law was a fine. However, under the new law, the maximum penalty is eight years of imprisonment.
https://www.asgam.com/index.php/2024/04/08/macau-legislators-concerned-about-whether-playing-mahjong-poker-at-home-will-be-deemed-illegal-gambling-under-new-law/
april24
A chief executive of Macau will have the authority for reasons of “public interest”, to terminate on an individual basis, the capacity of any of the city’s casino six concessionaires to grant gambling credit to patrons, according to a draft bill likely to become law in August.
Such power is under a fresh provision the government added to the draft bill, said on Friday Macau legislator Chan Chak Mo (pictured right). He heads a committee of the city’s Legislative Assembly tasked with scrutinising the bill. He was speaking to reporters following a closed-doors meeting of the committee.
The draft bill amends rules on credit for gambling in Macau, including ending the many-decades-long right of licensed gaming promoters, known as junkets, to issue credit directly to players. Under the new bill, the only entities permitted to provide gambling credit to patrons in the Macau market would be the concessionaires themselves.
The latest version of the legal proposal has been published on the Legislative Assembly’s website.
https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-ce-can-terminate-op-bet-credit-issuance-says-bill/
mar24
Os promotores de jogo escreveram uma carta à Assembleia Legislativa para manifestar a sua oposição à proposta da nova lei de concessão de crédito para jogo, que prevê a exclusão dos mesmos como concedentes de crédito. A respectiva inelegibilidade passou a ser incluída no diploma apenas depois da sua aprovação na generalidade. Os promotores de jogo defendem que a prática actual é eficaz e pode contribuir para aumentar as receitas de jogo. O diploma deverá ser submetido ao plenário para apreciação na especialidade no próximo mês.
https://pontofinal-macau.com/2024/03/20/al-recebeu-carta-de-promotores-de-jogo-contra-possivel-desqualificacao-de-concessao-de-credito/
mar24
Macau’s Legislative Assembly is expected to give a final reading in April to a previously-announced bill amending rules on casino-issued credit for gambling, said on Tuesday Chan Chak Mo (pictured, right), head of a standing committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly tasked with scrutinising the measure.
His remarks followed a closed-doors committee meeting. Mr Chan said he had no information as yet on when the city’s government might opt to pass into law the measure, titled “Legal regime of credit concession for gambling in casinos”.
Mr Chan’s committee had discussed on Tuesday the latest government draft of the bill.
According to Mr Chan, It has few changes from the previous draft, which was circulated amongst legislators in December.
He explained, referring to the update: “In this text, there are just some minor additional clauses that detail the casino concessionaires’ responsibilities for issuing gambling credit.”
According to Mr Chan, they outline Macau casino concessionaires should establish a “standard operating procedure” when issuing gambling credit, which should include details about the staff handling the task, and what those staff are authorised to do.
The fresh clauses are in Article 8 – “the general duties of the credit grantor” – which state that the gambling credit issuer should establish an “appropriate risk control system” for their business, as well as to maintain a “clear” record of such credit and for there to be a duty of confidentiality by the issuer toward the creditor, according to Mr Chan.
The updated draft keeps in place the government proposal that casino concessionaires should be the only entities permitted to issue credit to gaming patrons in the Macau market, according to Mr Chan. His fellow legislators on the commitee have also accepted this proposal, he noted in comments to local media after the meeting.
The city’s licensed junkets, known officially as gaming promoters, will not themselves be allowed to issue credit to any gamblers, assuming the bill becomes law.
Mr Chan said that under the bill, a Macau junket would only be able to request a partnering casino concessionaire to extend gaming credit to that junket’s players. Such an arrangement would also require a notarised contract – approved by the city’s Secretary for Economy and Finance – Mr Chan noted in his Tuesday comments.
U Io Hung, a veteran Macau junket boss, noted on Tuesday to GGRAsia that – in his view – the current gaming credit law, under which junkets are also a recognised gaming credit grantor, had been a “viable” regulatory framework.
“The new proposal could potentially give rise to a new problem, by driving the gaming credit business underground,” Mr U remarked to GGRAsia.
https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-bet-credit-bill-final-nod-maybe-april-legislator/
mai23
Lawmakers are mostly satisfied with the first version of the bill presented by the government to update laws regulating the granting of credit to gamblers to play in local casinos.
The first meeting of the Second Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL), led by Chan Chak Mo, concluded it was unnecessary to draft questions to the government on this matter, Chan told the media after the meeting.
Lawmakers are concerned with only a few aspects of the bill, which are more related to ensuring it has enough elements to be effective in tackling all the potential issues.
Chan also recalled that the bill is mostly to update the granting of casino credit rules, adjusting it to the new gaming laws approved last year and that are now in force.
https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/committee-lawmakers-mostly-satisfied-with-casino-credit-bill.html
mai23
Three lawmakers expressed their concerns over protections for casino intermediaries during the first reading of the casino credit bill last week.
Ron Lam, Pereira Coutinho and Leong Sun Iok – the latter being a trade unionist – questioned the government about the bill’s future effectiveness in protecting creditors.
In response, director Adriano Marques Ho of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) assured lawmakers that currently, casino intermediaries have a well-operating mechanism. They are able to evaluate how much they will lend to each customer. He added that casino license holders have an even better mechanism to acknowledge their customers’ credit levels
https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/individual-creditor-rights-among-debate-topics-at-casino-credit-bill-first-reading.html
mai23
Macau lawmakers have given their first nod to the new bill governing gaming credit on Thursday.
After its first reading, the bill – expected to become effective early next year – will soon reach a Legislative Assembly panel for closer scrutiny.
Under the new bill designed to strengthen regulation of local junket operators, only gaming concessionaries and the junkets they partner with are allowed to extend credit to gamblers, with violators of the new rule facing a maximum fine of MOP5 million (US$620,000).
Management companies – mainly third-party promoters of local satellite casinos – are prohibited from engaging in such business.
https://www.macaubusiness.com/gaming-credit-bill-passes-first-reading-at-legislature/
m<ai23
Speaking to AGB, Ryan Ho Hong Wai – from the Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies of the Macao Polytechnic University – says that the government has revised its stance on gaming credit, allowing only concessionaires to issue such credit. Casino management firms, also known as satellite casinos operators, are banned from doing so. However, licensed junkets may enter contracts with concessionaires that allow them to issue gaming credit.
Compared to the existing gaming credit regime that came into force in 2004, the scholar says there is no significant change regarding the supervision directions, indicating that the new bill gives clear guidance to the industry on submitting documents.
https://agbrief.com/news/macau/10/05/2023/new-macau-bill-clarifies-gaming-credit-system-gaming-expert/?utm_source=Asia+Gaming+Brief&utm_campaign=ded1e8d143-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_19_2022_13_42_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51950b5d21-ded1e8d143-69255637&ct=t(EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_5_19_2022_13_42_COPY_01)&goal=0_51950b5d21-ded1e8d143-69255637&mc_cid=ded1e8d143&mc_eid=31e20475e6
ab23
The Macau government’s proposed rejig of gambling-credit law is unlikely to have much impact on the city’s existing satellite casinos, said Hoffman Ma Ho Man, one of the bosses of Macau gaming resort Ponte 16, in comments to GGRAsia. Though he added that was because such credit issuance had dramatically reduced in the Macau market before and since the new 10-year gaming concessions that started on January 1.
“Since the update of Macau’s gaming regulations [in 2022], we’ve already witnessed the collapse of the whole gambling credit business in the market… so I don’t think it [the new bill] is going to cause any further huge impact,” Mr Ma, deputy chairman of Hong Kong-listed Success Universe Group Ltd, an investor in Ponte 16, told GGRAsia. The property in the city’s Inner Harbour district, runs under the gaming licence of SJM Holdings Ltd.
https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-bet-credit-plan-ok-for-satellite-casinos-ponte-16-boss/
abr23
The Macau government has drafted a new bill on casino concessionaire- and junket-issued credit for gambling. The bill proposes that the junkets – known as licensed gaming promoters – must have a formal contract for the purpose of granting credit, with any gaming concessionaire they tie to.
That is according to a new bill briefly outlined during a Friday press conference by André Cheong Weng Chon (pictured right), acting as spokesman for the city’s Executive Council, an advisory body to the city’s government; and Adriano Marques Ho (pictured left), director of the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
If passed into law by the Legislative Assembly, the bill would replace an existing gaming credit law – Law No. 5/2004, Mr Ho explained to the press during the briefing.
The Macau government has also proposed that, via the bill, so-called management companies – the new term for the non-concessionaire entities permitted to run “satellite” casino venues under a concessionaire licence – would not themselves be allowed to “establish any casino gaming credit contract” or perform any related “legal acts”.
Neither of the officials at the Friday briefing gave further details on the differences between the newly proposed bill on gambling credit, and the existing gaming credit law.
At the Friday briefing, Mr Cheong confirmed – in response to a question from GGRAsia – that the government was still reviewing an existing regulatory regime dealing with illicit gambling, and formulating new legal proposals.
The existing regime for that – Law 8/96/M – has been applied by Macau prosecutors recently – namely in relation to ‘under-table’ bets and proxy betting – in the criminal cases brought respectively against ex-junket boss Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, formerly of Suncity Group; and Levo Chan Weng Lin, former boss of Tak Chun Group, who was on Friday jailed for 14 years for a number of crimes, including gambling-related ones.
https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-bet-credit-law-to-get-reading-at-legislative-assembly/
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