The latest version of Macau’s new Gaming Law stipulates that concessionaires or any of their 5% of more shareholders may not directly hold the capital of other concessionaires, but they can hold up to 5% of other concessionaires indirectly.
The Second Standing Committee of the Macau Legislative Assembly (AL) held a meeting on the new Gaming Law today (Monday 13 June), after which Committee Chairman Andrew Chan Chak Mo noted that the latest document handed to the committee by the government contained altered content from that provided by the government at their previous meeting.
In the previous version the regulation stated “concessionaires, as well as their shareholders holding 5% or more of the respective capital stock, may own, directly or indirectly, less than 5% capital of other concessionaires.”
Chan said the new text change is similar to the old law, but with one key modification. It states that “concessionaires, as well as their shareholders holding 5% or more of their respective capital stock, may not directly hold [shares in another concessionaire] in their own name, but can indirectly hold shares of the concessionaire, for example, in the form of a fund, but not more than 5%.”
Chan said the government “made the change in the hope of preventing collusion among the concessionaires to enhance their competitiveness.”
He also explained that a final meeting of the committee will be held this Wednesday 15 June and an “opinion letter” – a document signed by the Second Standing Committee to be submitted to the full AL – will be signed on that day.
“After signing the opinion letter, the Legislative Assembly will come together five working days later to discuss and vote on this law,” he said.
Chan expects that the Legislative Assembly will discuss the new Gaming Law next week and pass it before 26 June.
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