• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Sunday 24 September 2023
    • 中文
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Consulting
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • 中文
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Consulting
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • 中文
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

Macau Gaming Law series part 1: Here comes the extension … 26 June now seems impossible

Andrew W Scott by Andrew W Scott
Wed 2 Mar 2022 at 17:57
Survival of the Fittest?
65
SHARES
1.6k
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Welcome to the first in a series of articles on the Macau gaming law IAG intends to publish through the month of March and in early April. While much has been discussed about the gaming law changes and the impending re-tendering process, there are many areas yet to be explored, and more than a few unintended consequences lurking in the draft law as it currently stands. This series will explore and analyse these issues and offer opinions on how they might be addressed.

Part Date Article
1 Wed 2 Mar Here comes the extension … 26 June now seems impossible
2 Fri 4 Mar Cross-shareholding provisions crossing the line?
3 Mon 7 Mar Problematic consequences of the satellite purge
4 Wed 9 Mar Does the chip cap need a rethink?
5 Fri 11 Mar Reversion of gaming areas – a problem no one is talking about
6 Mon 14 Mar Directors’ liability – changing centuries of corporate law?
7 Mon 16 Mar Junkets, collaborators and concessionaire liability
8 Fri 25 Mar Minimum income – a stealthy gaming tax rate hike?
9 Mon 28 Mar National Security – a get out of jail free card for the government?
10 Fri 1 Apr Confusion reigns over so-called “Managing Director” shareholding
11 Sun 3 Apr 10-year concessions hamper investment in Macau
12 Wed 6 Apr Too broad suitability checks will dilute their effectiveness
13 Thu 7 Apr Provisions regarding other jurisdictions can cause legal conflict
14 Fri 8 Apr And that’s a wrap – where to from here?

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past nearly six months, you’d know the Macau gaming industry has been abuzz about the fact that our six 20-year gaming concessions all expire on Sunday 26 June this year. Precisely what changes will happen to the industry from that fateful day have been looming large.

After years of silence on the matter, the Macau government shifted straight from first gear to overdrive on Tuesday 14 September last year, less than 48 hours after the latest Legislative Assembly election, which are held quadrennially. The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, with barely a few hours notice to the media, held a press conference at 5pm that day, after the Hong Kong markets had closed.

That press conference was a bombshell, dropping a raft of major new proposals, announcing a 45-day consultation period for the public to discuss them, and to many seemingly shifting the government’s posture instantaneously from a lazy meandering stream to a raging torrent. The market was not ready for this, and the full force of the bombshell was not felt until the next day, which saw some 26% of market capitalization – which had taken around 15 years to build – wiped from the Macau concessionaires. Around US$20 billion in value was lost in a single day.

It has been clearly apparent from that fateful September day right up to now that the Macau government has been on a mission to get this done by 26 June this year if humanly possible. The government ran a 45-day consultation process, rather than a 60-day process which is more usual in Macau. When COVID affected the process, the government crammed four consultation sessions into the final four days – including, shock, horror, a Sunday – to make the deadline. The detailed report on the process – which much to the industry’s pleasure adopted a substantial number of their suggestions – dropped at 5pm on the day before Christmas Eve, less than two months after the consultation period ended. The draft legislation, expected after Chinese New Year, appeared on the website of Macau’s Legislative Assembly (AL) in mid-January, and had its first reading under a week later – all before Chinese New Year.

If, and only if, the AL rushed the bill through and rubber stamped it with little debate or discussion, there might just have been a chance to make it by 26 June. Had the AL done such a rush job, passing the legislation with little or no amendment by say early March, there could have been time for a hasty six-week tender process to say mid-April, then a couple of weeks for evaluation, say six weeks of contractual negotiations with the successful bidders, and finally a signing ceremony in late June – just in the nick of time to crack open the champagne and beat the 26 June deadline by mere days.

Alas – or depending on your point of view, hurrah – this is not to be. Several issues about the draft bill have been raised by the AL’s Second Standing Committee – the body responsible for reviewing the bill – including the planned treatment of satellite casinos, the concessionaire’s so-called “Managing Director” and new national security provisions in the draft bill.

Indeed, Andrew Chan Chak Mo, the Committee’s chairman, has already suggested to local Chinese media that while the second reading of the bill could be this month, the bill will likely not pass until late June – and that the government should therefore extend the six concessions beyond the 26 June deadline by a year.

I think it’s now clear no course of action other than an extension is possible. But I suspect, given the Macau government’s clear intent to keep the pressure on and get this done as quickly as possible, that a six-month extension is more likely than a year. That would shift D-Day from 26 June to 26 December, making Boxing Day the new deadline. Of course, that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be a further extension if needed, as the current gaming law provides for the government to extend as many times as it likes up to a cumulative total of five years. Conversely, it doesn’t mean the process couldn’t be finished before Boxing Day.

For the sake of clarity in the market, I would expect such an extension to be announced soon, likely this month. Watch this space.

Part Date Article
1 Wed 2 Mar Here comes the extension … 26 June now seems impossible
2 Fri 4 Mar Cross-shareholding provisions crossing the line?
3 Mon 7 Mar Problematic consequences of the satellite purge
4 Wed 9 Mar Does the chip cap need a rethink?
5 Fri 11 Mar Reversion of gaming areas – a problem no one is talking about
6 Mon 14 Mar Directors’ liability – changing centuries of corporate law?
7 Mon 16 Mar Junkets, collaborators and concessionaire liability
8 Fri 25 Mar Minimum income – a stealthy gaming tax rate hike?
9 Mon 28 Mar National Security – a get out of jail free card for the government?
10 Fri 1 Apr Confusion reigns over so-called “Managing Director” shareholding
11 Sun 3 Apr 10-year concessions hamper investment in Macau
12 Wed 6 Apr Too broad suitability checks will dilute their effectiveness
13 Thu 7 Apr Provisions regarding other jurisdictions can cause legal conflict
14 Fri 8 Apr And that’s a wrap – where to from here?

[Ed: The very next day after the predictions in this article were published, the Macau government did indeed extend the Macau casino gaming concessions by six months.]

RelatedPosts

IAG announces Grand Coloane Resort as venue for Macau After Dark 19 And IAG’s 18th Anniversary Party on Friday 22 September

Macau After Dark at Grand Coloane Resort on tonight

Fri 22 Sep 2023 at 06:00
Macau government announces six old districts to be revitalized by concessionaires

Melco to revitalize Macau Inner Harbour piers and Ruins of St Paul area

Thu 21 Sep 2023 at 17:52
Margin Call

University of Macau survey finds 30% of adults gambled in 2022, well down on pre-COVID levels

Wed 20 Sep 2023 at 16:33
Non-gaming spend of Macau visitors fell 26% to US$2.25 billion in 2022

Macau welcomes post-pandemic high of 3,221,691 visitor arrivals in August

Tue 19 Sep 2023 at 18:08
Load More
Tags: casinosgaming concessionsGaming LawLegislative AssemblyMacau
Share26Share5
Andrew W Scott

Andrew W Scott

Born in Australia, Andrew is a gaming industry expert and media publisher, commentator and journalist who moved to Hong Kong in 2005 and then Macau in 2009, when he founded O MEDIA, one of Macau’s largest media companies and parent company of Inside Asian Gaming.

Current Issue

Editorial – Winning margins: how Macau is set to become more profitable than ever before

Editorial – Winning margins: how Macau is set to become more profitable than ever before

by Ben Blaschke
Wed 30 Aug 2023 at 08:49

If there were two key takeaways from the recent Q2 earnings season in Macau, they were that margins in 2023...

PAGCOR’s Alejandro Tengco

PAGCOR’s Alejandro Tengco

by Andrew W Scott
Tue 29 Aug 2023 at 13:24

IAG sits down with PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco to discuss his 12 months in the job and ambitions...

A September to remember

A September to remember

by Ben Blaschke
Tue 29 Aug 2023 at 12:37

IAG presents the first ever Super September, comprising the IAG Academy Summit and two exciting networking events at Manila’s Newport...

2023  IAG Academy IR Awards: Official Nominations

2023 IAG Academy IR Awards: Official Nominations

by Newsdesk
Mon 28 Aug 2023 at 18:50

Winners will be announced at the 2023 IAG Academy IR Awards Gala Dinner, to be held in The Ballroom at...

Softswiss
Evolution Asia
Aristocrat
Solaire
Evoplay
Hann
Hann
Okada Manila
BETER
Okada Manila

Related Posts

Korea’s Mohegan INSPIRE reaches 30% construction milestone, on track for late 2023 launch

Mohegan outlines market size estimates for Korean IR Inspire, says focus to be on premium gaming segments

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 22 Sep 2023 at 06:32

Mohegan says it anticipates the potential market size for its new Korean integrated resort, Mohegan Inspire, to comprise 4.7 million “gaming trips” annually, including both inbound visitors and foreign residents or dual passport holders. In an Investor Day presentation on...

IAG announces Grand Coloane Resort as venue for Macau After Dark 19 And IAG’s 18th Anniversary Party on Friday 22 September

Macau After Dark at Grand Coloane Resort on tonight

by Newsdesk
Fri 22 Sep 2023 at 06:00

The 19th and latest edition of Inside Asian Gaming’s popular networking social Macau After Dark takes place tonight, held for the first time at Grand Coloane Resort. The event also doubles as IAG’s 18th anniversary celebration. MAD 19 forms part of a...

LET Group sells off more assets to fund Asia casino developments

LET Group sells off more assets to fund Asia casino developments

by Newsdesk
Fri 22 Sep 2023 at 05:50

Hong Kong-listed gaming investor LET Group, formerly known as Suncity Group, says it has reached an agreement to sell off a subsidiary currently leasing mall space in mainland China’s Zhejiang Province, with the proceeds to help fund “existing developments”. In...

Genting in Macau … Why? How? (Part 2 of 2)

Fitch revises down Genting Malaysia’s 2023 and 2024 revenue estimates but outlook strong

by Newsdesk
Fri 22 Sep 2023 at 05:26

Ratings agency Fitch has cut its revenue expectations for Genting Malaysia – operator of Malaysia’s Resorts World Genting plus casinos in New York and Europe – by around 5% on average for 2023 and 2024, citing its slower than expected...



IAG

© 2005-2023
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

No Result
View All Result
  • 中文
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Consulting
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About

© 2005-2023
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • 中文
  • English