A Macau government legislative proposal to have the city’s licensed junkets banned from themselves issuing credit to casino gamblers would if realised be a “huge blow” to the already much-diminished sector, said veteran junket boss U Io Hung, in comments to GGRAsia.
The local government has proposed amending a draft bill titled “legal regime of credit concession for gambling in casinos”, so that junkets – known officially as gaming promoters – would no longer be allowed such a credit-supply role.
If passed, the once-prominent junket sector would face a “huge blow”, said Mr U, president of the Macau Gaming Promoter Professionals Association.
“This will become a situation where the casino concessionaires can directly acquire the gaming patrons from us,” stated Mr U.
Gaming credit had always been a “key tool” for junkets to attract gaming patrons, the veteran junket boss added.
“Since the revenue-sharing model for the junket sector is banned, and each licensed junket is only allowed to work with one casino concessionaire at one time, the scale of credit issued by junkets to players has been largely diminished – this is already a largely controllable risk, ” said Mr U. He was referring to tightened regulatory conditions already in place.
He added: “Under the current business environment, profits have already thinned a lot for our sector: no one dares to issue any credit easily to players.”
The junket boss said he could not understand the government’s rationale for its latest legal proposal.
“If there is still [government] concern about any disorderly expansion of the junket sector here, this is really no longer the case. The sector is already facing huge scrutiny, with income also restrained by the burden of the 5-percent withholding levy on commissions paid to us by casinos,” said Mr U.
Macau junkets currently have nothing like the scope and volume of business that they had in their heyday up to a few years ago. The tally of junkets in Macau shrank by 21.7 percent year-on-year, to 36 in January this year, showed official data.
Further discussions on the gambling credit bill were expected to continue into February next year, followed by a final reading at a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, said on Friday veteran legislator Chan Chak Mo. A committee he heads in the city’s Legislative Assembly has been tasked since May with scrutinising the bet-credit draft bill.
