Importance of the gaming sector justifies increased CEO powers to regulate industry – Committee head

The proposed gaming law amendment provides the Macau CE with vast discretionary powers to unilaterally revoke gaming concessions in several instances of breaches to national security and other administrative sanctions, such as failure to communicate major financial decisions or in fulfilling other contractual obligations.

“In my opinion, this is a special law. The gaming sector is extremely important to Macau, considering the number of job positions. Taking into account the changes in the worldwide situation and the concerns surrounding national security I think it is proper to give more powers to the CE,” legislator and committee chairman, Chan Chak Mo said.

The AL second standing committee held its 11th session today with government representatives to discuss the proposed gaming law amendment.
A new item in Article 1 of the bill indicates that casinos must operate under the premise of maintaining the security of the nation and the SAR, with any decision by the CE to revoke gambling licenses for national security violations able to proceed without going through judicial procedures.

“Before it was impossible to cover this. If the concessionaire partners with foreign powers authorities will be able to act. The concessionaire will still be able to appeal the decision to the courts. The CE will also consult the Specialized Commission for Casino Games before a decision,” Chan noted.

The commission created in 2010 is responsible for studying the development and administration of the gaming sector, as well as defining the respective policies. It includes the CE plus three Secretaries and the Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ) director.

Inquired if the commission could include in the future a
member of the representative office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China in Macau, Chan only said he “personally did not think” a liaison office representative would be added.
In case a gaming concession is revoked, all gaming areas under the concession would revert to the Macau SAR government, including those in non-completed development projects.

According to Chan authorities are considering altering the current requirement that if failing to obtain a gaming license or seeing the license revoked, concessionaires would have to file for dissolution, so as to allow the companies to continue operating their non-gaming sectors.

“After 20 years since the first concession public tender, all concessionaires engage in many different businesses so the operator should be able to continue its non-gaming operations. The government will decide if they can change their status,” Chan added.