<span class="date updated"><i class="icon-calendar"></i> Feb 14, 2022</span> <span class="vcard author meta-user"><span class="fn"><i class="icon-user"></i> <a href="https://www.GGRAsia.com/author/newsdesk/" title="Posts by Newsdesk" rel="author">Newsdesk</a></span></span> <span class="meta-cat"><i class="1 icon-book"></i> <a href="https://www.GGRAsia.com/category/latest-news/" title="View all posts in Latest News" rel="category tag">Latest News</a>, <a href="https://www.GGRAsia.com/category/latest-news/macau/" title="View all posts in Macau" rel="category tag">Macau</a>, <a href="https://www.GGRAsia.com/category/latest-news/top-of-the-deck/" title="View all posts in Top of the deck" rel="category tag">Top of the deck</a></span> <span class="meta-comment last-meta"> </span> <br>Macau’s Legislative Assembly (pictured) is expected to give a final reading to <span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-casino-ops-eye-tender-as-bill-details-announced/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">the gaming law amendment bill</span></a> <span style="color: #333333;">by June 26</span></span> this year, also the date of the expiry of the city’s six gaming concessions, noted on Monday, legislator Chan Chak Mo, the head of an assembly sub-committee tasked with examining the bill. If so, the government might be able – on a concurrent basis – to start the documentation work required for the gaming-concession retender process.<br>Mr Chan said so to the local press, following the sub-committee’s first meeting to review the gaming law amendment bill, held behind closed doors with legal consultants from the assembly.<br>Several legislators that are not part of the sub-committee – including Angela Leong On Kei, co-chairperson and executive director of incumbent operator SJM Holdings Ltd – were permitted to be observers at the Monday meeting.<br>Mr Chan said Monday’s discussion focused on the bill’s proposed articles on the suitability requirements for <a href="https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-to-have-6-casino-licences-lasting-10-years-govt-bill/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">the “managing director”</span></a> of a gaming concession entity; and the government-proposed recognition of a <span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.ggrasia.com/junkets-tied-to-single-macau-op-sub-agents-ok-gaming-bill/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">“management company”</span></a></span> entity that would be responsible for managing all or part of a casino of a gaming concessionaire. Historically, the concept of a management company has encompassed management services for functions at so-called satellite casinos.<br>The bill has proposed that the managing director of a gaming concession – who has to be a Macau permanent resident – would need to hold at least 15 percent of the concession entity’s share capital; the requirement is currently set at 10 percent.<br>Other government suggestions in the bill include the need to increase the minimum share capital requirement for any local casino concessionaire to MOP5 billion (US$625 million) from the existing MOP200-million threshold.<br>“That means the managing director [of a gaming concessionaire] has to have MOP750 million [in share capital] ready… so there are questions on who in Macau has that financial capacity,” Mr Chan told reporters.<br>Legislators would like to understand the government’s rationale on the new share-capital requirement for a gaming concession’s managing director, Mr Chan added. “With this proposal, there are questions on whether [it] really helps Macau locals to have a bigger say in the city’s gaming industry development,” he said.<br>Monday’s discussions also covered whether the managing director of a Macau gaming concession would be permitted to “possess dual nationality” or whether there would need to be a test of whether they were “patriotic” – a reference to their attitude to the Chinese motherland – in addition to their experience in the industry or their academic background, Mr Chan said.<br>The sustainability of the city’s existing satellite casinos had also been a topic that prompted “much debate” during the Monday meeting, added Mr Chan.<br>The bill proposed that satellite gaming venues will be given a three-year grace period to <span style="color: #0000ff;"><a href="https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-plan-for-satellite-casinos-surprise-says-investor/"><span style="color: #0000ff;">tie ownership</span></a></span> of their premises directly to a gaming concessionaire.<br>Concerns raised included how many satellites would be able to achieve such a step, and what impact the rule might have on local employment at satellites, Mr Chan said.<br>The sub-committee discussion continues this week.<br><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <!-- Inner Pages stories --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7265556645157591" data-ad-slot="9351942928" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins> <script>
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”We aim to establish the Gambling Regulatory Authority in mid-2022”
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs
