MACAU BUSINESS Mr. Kwok also noted that the government
would meet with different junket representatives in February to discuss a laundry list of issues, including the possibility of setting up such a database. Financial news agency Bloomberg reported in December that gaming promoters could now only recoup 20 to 30 per cent of outstanding debt compared to as much as 70 per cent in 2013, as many gamblers struggled to settle their debts. Legislator Zheng Anting, purportedly with
interests in the junket business, has been an advocate of this blacklist system, speaking to different media outlets and attending discussion forums. “The gaming promoters hope that the government can co-operate with them in setting up this database, which could be run legally,” adding that only a restricted number of users could access the system. Asking whether all the junkets were willing to
share their clients’ information, the legislator said it was important for the industry to reach a consensus first. “It’s better to emphasise quality rather than quantity,” he said, meaning the junkets should only grant credit after having a clear grasp of the financial capabilities of their clients.
Wonderful World The government has so far neither approved
nor rejected the idea of the junkets, only noting that the database could be ‘feasible’ and that further discussion and study were needed on technical details. A junket operator, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said the industry has not arrived at any consensus on the topic, which was proposed by several large players in the market. “I personally have reservations if we have to share the contacts of our clients,” the junket operator said. “[I] will have to see what they come up with in the end but [I’m] against sharing all of our contacts.” “This type of ‘high risk’ gambler database
would clearly have to navigate Macau’s data privacy laws, but pooled information seems in theory to make sense for junkets looking to better minimise risk,” said Jeffrey Fiedler, spokesperson of the International Union of Operating Engineers, a labour union based in the United States. The group has set up the Macau Gaming Watch website to monitor and investigate the activities and backgrounds of junket operators here. He noted that this database was just a twist to the service offered by Wonderful World, a website naming and shaming gaming debtors, which once listed more than 700 gamblers frequenting Macau’s casinos. The website
99world.com, launched in 2013, had claimed to help junkets recoup more than 200 million yuan of debt. But the police arrested the owners of the website in 2014 for breaching the Personal Data Protection Act by publicly disclosing the personal information of the debtors. Local courts found them guilty in 2015. Mr. Fiedler also cast doubt on whether high
rollers would be willing to have their personal information recorded on such a database, given it was not publicly accessible. “Many of Macau’s
high rollers, particularly politically exposed persons, strive to protect their privacy. This might further depress demand in Macau’s high roller market,” he remarked. In revamping the junket regulations, Mr.
Fiedler said the government should have a more “rigorous regime” that conducted stricter suitability checks on financiers, third-party profit participants, credit guarantors and off- book shareholders of the junket operators. The law now only mandates that the junket operators submit information of shareholders holding more than 5 per cent interest in the company for the suitability review. The authorities should publish more information about the junket operators for the supervision of the public, including their key financial backers as well as casinos they are working with, he added. “Beijing has clearly made a decision that the previous VIP-driven model in Macau is untenable,” he noted, referring to several calls made by Mainland officials that Macau should diversify its economy from gaming. “Macau’s initial effort at better regulating the junkets is just a reflection of Beijing’s desires.” While the government is still keeping its cards
close to its chest, Mr. Chan, the gaming regulator chief, acknowledged in a radio talk show in January that both the government and the industry would have to undergo a period of adjustment at the beginning of heightened supervision. “Achieving a balance in supervision is important so that the regulations will not be too rigid,” he said. “It is an art [of management].”
24 APRIL 2016
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