Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming November 2017 20 MdME’s Rui Pinto Proença looks at the recent flurry of satellite casinos entering the Macau market and their apparent flouting of the “2008 Moratorium.” A s we enter the final stretch of 2017, it is clear that Macau will end the year with no additions to its portfolio of integrated resorts. MGM, owner of the next big project in the pipeline, has already announced that it will not be able to open its first Cotai Strip property until next year and SJM is racing to finish Grand Lisboa Palace by the end of 2018. While the big boys are struggling to deliver their promise of the Macau dream – one that offers a world of non-gaming attractions appealing to patrons from all over the globe – the lower echelons of the market have seen a level of movement unprecedented in the last decade. As early as February, Macau Legend opened Legend Palace, its latest casino-hotel located within the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf Rules of the game Macau satellite casinos: By Rui Pinto Proença Rui Pinto Proença is a partner at MdME, where he heads the firm’s Corporate and Gaming practice. MdME is a full service Macau law firm and a member of the MLGTS Legal Circle, an integrated alliance with renowned law firms in Portuguese speaking jurisdictions. MdME is also the Macau member firm of Lex Mundi, a world leading network of independent law firms, with in-depth experience in 100+ countries and access to more than 21,000 lawyers worldwide. The more the merrier?