The Macau gaming sector saw an 8.7-percent year-on-year increase in suspicious transaction reports (STRs) in the first six months of this year, with 2,018 transactions being flagged for further checks.
That is according to an update from the Financial Intelligence Office of the city’s Unitary Police Service.
Gaming-sector STRs accounted for 73.3 percent of Macau’s overall 2,753 STRs. The city-wide number of STRs grew 9.5 percent year-on-year, according to the office’s data.
GGRAsia has asked the Financial Intelligence Office for a breakdown on type of gaming-sector STR and reasons for growth of instances.
The gaming sector generated 3,837 suspicious transaction reports in 2024, the most for a 12-month period since record-keeping by the office began in 2006. The 2024 gaming-sector STRs accounted for 73.1 percent of the city-wide total of 5,245 STRs.
Per the Financial Intelligence Office’s 2024 annual report, the most common reasons for STRs had included: gaming chip conversion “without or with gambling activities”; and“irregular large cash withdrawals”.
Also noted as reasons for 2024 STRs were: currency exchanges or “cash conversion”; “significant cash deposit with non-verifiable source of funds”; and “chips conversion/marker redemption/gambling on behalf of third parties”.
The 2025 annual report for the Financial Intelligence Office is yet to be published.
