Inside Asian Gaming

DECEMBER 2017 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 25 ASIAN GAMING POWER 50 2 0 1 7 Muhammad Cohen Editor-At-large Inside Asian Gaming Muhammad Cohen has been covering business in Asia since 1995, focusing on the casino business for the past decade. He’s interviewed gaming’s best and brightest, been publicly upbraided (at least once, unjustly) by them and in turn has keenly assessed what they’ve produced. His experience as a diplomat and city planner help him place gaming policies, projects and destinations in the broader urban and geopolitical context of Asia’s increasingly complex web of competing domestic and international interests and imperatives. As a former baseball writer, working with some of the game’s top statistical analysts, he brings a keen appreciation of the power and limits of numbers to paint a picture that may be incredibly accurate but also multi-dimensional. Professor Desmond Lam, PHD Acting Program Director of Hospitality and Gaming Management Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau Professor Desmond Lam is a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. He has been one of the judges for the International Gaming Awards (London) since 2008 and an academic affairs advisor to the Macau Gaming Management Association since 2012. He has written and presented extensively on gaming-related issues and his articles are featured in premier trade publications. Desmond is author of the book Chopsticks and Gambling , which examines the little-known world of Chinese gambling from historical, cultural, psychological and social perspectives. He is the recipient of several research and industry awards including the Cambridge Clare Hall Fellowship and the Emerging Leader trophy at the 2016 Asia Gaming Awards. Throughout his career, Desmond has lectured in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia. He has conducted numerous university courses and executive workshops in gaming, tourism and hospitality. Rui Pinto Proença Corporate and Gaming Practice Partner MdME Lawyers Private Notary Rui specializes in corporate mergers and acquisitions, heading MdME’s practice in those areas. He regularly acts on mergers, acquisitions and other corporate transactions, boasting an enviable track record across a range of different industries. He also advises corporations, financial institutions and private equity funds on a broad variety of corporate matters, including restructurings, debt issuance, regulatory compliance and strategic advice at a board level. Rui often advises issuers with Macau interests in relation to listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He is a key contact in MdME’s gaming industry practice, where he provides corporate and regulatory assistance to junket operators, gaming equipment manufacturers, service providers and gaming concessionaire’s equity holders. He also integrates the company’s insurance industry panel of experts regularly advising a number of sector players at transactional, contractual and regulatory levels. David Green Principal Newpage Consulting David Green is founder and Chairman of Newpage Consulting, a company he established in Macau early in 2010. Previously he was Director of the Gaming Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (Macau) Limitada. An Australian citizen, he is also a Permanent Resident of Macau. He retired as a Partner of PwC in 2004, but rejoined in 2005 to assist in the further development of the firm’s presence in the Asian gaming industry. He has lived in Macau for more than 14 years and worked with the SAR Government in relation to the liberalization and regulation of the casino industry. David is both a qualified lawyer and accountant, with considerable experience in gaming, including seven years (1995 to 2002) as a member and Chairman of the Independent Gambling Authority of South Australia, which regulates the Adelaide casino, bookmaking, community-based machine games, sports betting and racing industries. He is a former Commissioner for Consumer Affairs in South Australia, in which capacity he represented the state in negotiations for Australia’s new Competition Law. David holds a Masters degree in Law from the University of Melbourne, an MBA with Honours from IMD, Lausanne, and a Commerce degree, also from the University of Melbourne. He was admitted to legal practice in Australia in 1977. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants (Australia) and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Michael Zhu SVP, International Operations Planning & Analysis The Innovation Group With nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming, leisure and hospitality industries, Michael Zhu joined The Innovation Group in 2014 where he applies a comprehensive analytical skill set while exploiting his unique cultural context and leveraging his in-depth development and operational experience in the related sectors. Michael is Vice Chairman of the Macau Gaming Information Association (MGIA). His main focus with The Innovation Group is on mid and large-scale IR development and operations in the US, Asia-Pacific and European markets. Michael also expanded his horizons during the GFC as a Leadership Development Associate with Las Vegas Sands Corporation, where he oversaw a broad array of projects to establish and enhance financial planning and analysis for the opening of numerous Sands China integrated resorts in Macau and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore among others. He holds a Master of Business Administration in Hospitality Management from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Peking University in China. He was a Fellow of the United States National Committee on US-China Relations in Washington DC and of the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.