Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUL 2022年7月 亞博匯 98 FEATURES A rticle 17 of Macau’s new gaming law concerning the capital and s h a r e h o l d i n g s of concessionaires mandates that their minimum capital requirement throughout the entirety of their concession period must be no less than MOP$5 billion (US$625 million), paid up either in cash or bank drafts, and concessionaires cannot use this capital before launching their operations. This means that following the conclusion of the upcoming public tender for gaming licenses, any potential new concessionaire must have at least MOP$5 billion in cash on hand before operation. This is the threshold for entry into operating a casino under the new law. This new capitalization requirement is 25 times the previous minimum of MOP$200 million (US$25 million) stipulated under the original 2001 gaming law. Is this MOP$5 billion amount reasonable? Ignoring the suppressed revenues experienced throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Macau’s gross gaming revenue has soared since liberalization – from MOP$22.2 billion (US$2.8 billion) in 2002 to MOP$292.5 billion (US$36.6 billion) in 2019, 新 《博彩法》第17條 「承批公司的公司 資本股份」規定， 承批公司的資本金 額不能低於50億 澳門元，有關資本必需是現金或銀行匯 票，且在承批公司開業前不能使用有關 資本。 換言之，賭牌競投結束後，新的承 批公司在經營前，必須要有50億澳門元 或以上的現金在手。這是新法例下經營 娛樂場的「入場券」。這個規定，較舊 《博彩法》規定的2億澳門元註冊資本足 足提升了25倍。 而「50億澳門元」這個數量是否合 理？ 如 果 以 經 濟 環 境 變 化 作 為 計 算，2002年澳門博彩收入為221.8億澳 門元，而2019年（疫情前）為2,924.55 億澳門元，升幅約為13倍；2002年澳