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Macau courts consolidated stance on gaming concessionaires’ liability in junket cases – Lawyers

By Newsdesk

The Macau courts have clarified the scope of joint liability of gaming concessionaires for obligations undertaken by junket operators, in a series of rulings that reshape the legal framework of the city’s casino industry, according to a legal analysis.

Accoding to a dispatch by lawyers Bruno Almeida and Belmiro Leong, respectivelly a partner and associate at law firm Riquito Advogados, gaming promoters, formally recognised under Law No. 16/2001 and regulated by Administrative Regulation No. 6/2002, long played a central role in attracting clients and managing gaming rooms, however since 2015, a wave of cases emerged after junket operators defaulted on deposits, raising questions over concessionaires’ liability.

In November 2021, the Court of Final Appeal ruled concessionaires were jointly liable for deposits linked directly to gaming activity.

“The rationale being that only in such cases may a concessionaire reasonably be subject to, and expect to bear, joint and several liability,” Almeida and Leong wrote. Deposits made for other purposes, such as investments or interest-bearing schemes, were excluded.

The revised gaming law, Law No. 16/2022, came into force in December 2022, banning junkets from accepting deposits and restricting that activity to concessionaires.

Article 63 of thw law introduced an interpretative provision confirming that liability applies only when funds or chips are used in casino games or result from them. “This would put an end to a number of questions and theories about the actual scope of the concessionaires’ joint liability,” the lawyers noted.

In September 2025, the Court of Final Appeal further ruled (Award No. 124/2022) that concessionaires cannot be held accountable under general tort liability for junket debts.

“The assessment of the joint liability of the concessionaire shall be made in light of the interpretative rules,” Almeida and Leong observed, stressing that the provision has retrospective effect.

Although Macau’s legal system does not rely on precedent, rulings of the Court of Final Appeal are expected to guide future cases.

“It is therefore expected that Award No. 124/2022 will decisively consolidate the understanding that joint liability of concessionaires… can only be enforced when the plaintiffs can evidence their direct utilisation in gambling,” the lawyers concluded

https://macaubusiness.com/macau-courts-consolidated-stance-on-gaming-concessionaires-liability-in-junket-cases-lawyers/