Macau saw an 89.1-percent year-on-year increase in the number of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) filed by the gaming sector in the first quarter this year, contributing to a sharp rise overall in STRs for reportable sectors in the city.
That is according to Macau’s Financial Intelligence Office. The gaming industry logged 1,125 STRs in the first quarter, compared to 595 in the same period last year.
First-quarter suspicious transaction reports across all sectors tallied 1,460, a 78.7-percent year-on-year increase. The casino sector accounted for 77.1 percent of all such reports in the first three months this year.
The office gave no commentary on why the number of casino-sector STRs went up year-on-year. Quarter-on-quarter, the increase was only 2.6 percent from the 1,096 reported in the final three months of 2023.
The Macau casino sector had recorded 3,431 STRs for full-year 2023, the most for a 12-month period since data were first published in 2006.
The 2023 full-year casino STRs increased by circa 80 percent when compared to 2019. A factor for such rise was the city’s “economic rebound” in 2023, as well as the “continuous” reporting efforts from the gaming sector in detecting suspicious transactions, the Financial Intelligence Office had previously remarked to GGRAsia.
Common triggers to the 2023 casino STRs had been “conversion of chips without or with minimal gaming activities”, “conversion of chips on behalf of third parties”, and “exchange of currency/cash conversion”, according to the office. Such triggers have been consistent throughout 2019 to 2023.
