Only dealers will be able to accept gaming deposits in Macau

A new version of Macau’s separate gaming legislation will allow gaming licensees to offer players the service of reserving their chips.

This also includes cash or other forms of deposits for gambling, while prohibiting any form of interest earning on such deposits, as revealed by the permanent commission of the Legislative Assembly (AL) that is evaluating the bill.

The information was provided by the president of the Second Permanent Commission of the LA, Chan Chak Mo, during the press conference held after a discussion session on independent gaming legislation regarding commercial relations between gaming concessionaires, junket operators , sub-agents and managing entities of satellite casinos.

The Macau government has today submitted to the commission an amended version with several changes, one of which is that gaming licensees will be allowed to open separate accounts for players to store their chips, cash or other forms of money. that are used for the game, but the service must be subject to legal provisions that prevent money laundering and terrorism.

Average daily gaming revenue in Macau recovers

No maximum limit or deposit period will be established, but the service provided by gaming concessionaires may not grant any additional benefits, such as interest, to players, while only the account holder may deposit and withdraw funds from the same.

Other adjustments to the bill include that the renewal of gaming junket licenses will no longer be restricted by the scale of the gaming industry in Macau but license issuance will continue to take into account the size of the gaming industry.

“The renewal of junket licenses will not be affected by the factor of the scale of the gaming industry,” said the chairman of the evaluation committee, “the renewal will be decided by the market, that is, the junket license should be able to be renewed provided that the junket operators have signed the contract with the game licensee’.

Meanwhile, the issuance, renewal, suspension and cancellation of gaming junket licenses will be subject to the decision of the Secretary of Economy and Finance, instead of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Office (DICJ).

Chan also indicated that the final vote on the separate gambling legislation is expected to take place between October and mid-November.

No maximum limit or deposit period will be established, but the service provided by gaming concessionaires may not grant any additional benefits.

The separate bill, first revealed on March 31, will effectively replace the 2002 administrative regulations governing the licensing and activities of gaming junkets.

The project proposes that, in order to obtain a license, companies dedicated to the promotion of the game – known as junket operators – must have a share capital of no less than 10 million MOP (1.2 million dollars), have a majority ownership of the company owned by a Macau resident and have no outstanding gambling-related debts.

The bill only allows junkets to receive commissions, and prohibits casino revenue from being shared with casino licensees as their winnings.

Furthermore, junket promoters will only be able to sign contracts with one game dealer, while game dealers will be able to sign contracts with multiple junket operators.

Article republished under an agreement with Macau Business to share content. Link to original article: https://www.macaubusiness.com/only-gaming-concessionaires-to-be-allowed-to-accept-gaming-deposits/