Macau Gaming Law series part 14: And that’s a wrap – where to from here?

Welcome to the fourteenth and final in a series of articles on the Macau gaming law IAG published throughout the month of March and early April:

Thank you all for your great support during this Macau gaming law series. What began as a planned 10-part series finished as 14 parts, as there were so many important issues to cover. As of the time of writing this series has received over 18,000 page views, and no doubt that number will creep up to perhaps over 20,000 eventually. [Ed: As of 21 April, the series has accrued over 21,000 views.]

So, where to from now? The next step in the process is for the Second Standing Committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL) – headed by Andrew Chan Chak Mo – to complete its review of the law, and then for the wider AL to pass the law, no doubt with some amendments, which Mr Chan has promised to do by 26 June. I fervently hope that some of the issues raised by IAG in this Macau gaming law series, and raised by others, are considered and we see a more efficient law governing the industry in Macau. After all, this is the law which will set the ground rules for the next decade. The Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, will be attending a plenary session of the AL on 12 April, and this should be an excellent opportunity for his input.

Of the issues raised in this series, which are the most crucial? Judging from the number of page views (around 2,700), reversion of gaming areas is a very important one. I also think the chip cap rule as it currently stands is unworkable, and more clarity would be very useful on the provisions relating to minimum income, directors’ liability, the Managing Director, and operating in other jurisdictions.

I have no doubt the law will be passed as planned by late June. And I have no doubt the tender documents are already substantially drafted, waiting to be released within days of the law being passed.

While no-one knows how long the government will provide for the tender process, we all know the finish line is on 31 December, so it seems plausible the government will provide perhaps two to three months – essentially Q3 of this year – for the tender process to play out. Expect the announcement of the winning six bidders sometime in say October or perhaps early November. After that we will see a period of negotiation of the concession contracts – about four to six weeks feels right to me. This takes us to some date in December, during which we will likely see six signing ceremonies – or if we’re running close to the wire maybe one big ceremony for all six concessionaires! What a sight that would be.

Expect to hear the popping of champagne corks in December.

After that, the sleeves will be rolled up and the truly hard work of recovering from the COVID disaster will begin. Bring on the 2023 to 2032 “new decade” of the Macau gaming industry. It will be fascinating to watch.

This is the final article in the series.

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