MACAU BUSINESS
of chips with little or no gambling activity. Macau’s casinos are also required to submit large-amount transaction reports for transactions exceeding MOP500,000 (US$62,298).
Beyond the gaming sector, financial institutions and insurance companies contributed significantly to the rise in STRs, filing 1,097 reports in 2024—a 23.7 percent increase from the previous year.
ALL ‘BIG SIX’ CASINO OPERATORS ANNOUNCE SALARY HIKES All six of Macau’s gaming and integrated resort concessionaires have announced salary increases for their staff, which will take effect between March and April.
The salary hikes apply to all non-managerial staff across the companies.
This follows earlier announcements by the ‘Big Six’ – Galaxy, Melco, MGM, Sands, SJM, and Wynn – of a special allowance equivalent to one month’s salary, to be paid to employees in the first weeks of 2025.
CRACKDOWN ON JUNKETS ‘VERY POSITIVE’, ILLICIT ONLINE GAMBLING A RISING THREAT: VICKERS Risk mitigation consultant Steve Vickers has praised the authorities’ crackdown on junket activities in recent years but warns that new risks are emerging, particularly from illicit online gambling.
“The moves against the junkets were timely and have been mostly effective, so that’s very positive,” Vickers said on the sidelines of a business luncheon held on Thursday by the British Chamber of Commerce in Macau.
The former head of the Hong Kong Police Criminal Intelligence Bureau noted that “for many years, the junkets supported triad societies and were heavily involved in siphoning off funds from the gaming system, which ultimately did not pass through Macau’s tax system.” “I spent my life fighting organised crime, and being able to knock out one of their big sources of revenue, I thought, was good,” he said, before stressing that authorities should not rest on their laurels. “The problem is like that whack-a-mole game—you hit one down, and another one pops up.” As an example, he pointed to the persistent presence of illegal money changers, but warned that “the bigger problem going forward will be illicit online gambling, run by the same people who were previously involved in the junkets.” Vickers also cautioned against the effects of “a sort of unofficial settlement system between here and Cambodia, Vietnam, and particularly the Philippines.”
DEPUTY DIRECTOR LIO CHI CHONG TAKES INTERIM HELM OF DICJ Lio Chi Chong, deputy director of Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), has been appointed as the acting head of the city’s casino regulator, following the departure of former director Adriano Ho last month. The appointment was disclosed in an official dispatch published in Macau’s official gazette on Wednesday, dated 26 December 2024. According to the dispatch, the newly installed Secretary for Economy and Finance, Tai Kin Yip, delegated specific powers to Lio as acting director of DICJ. These include the authority to sign all contracts within the regulator’s remit and to issue official documents addressed to entities both within and outside Macau on behalf of the DICJ. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and law, Lio joined the DICJ in August 2020 as a senior technician, overseeing gaming technologies and activities in Macau’s casino venues. He was promoted to deputy director in February 2021.
Before joining the gaming regulator, Lio served as an investigator at Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) from 1999 to 2008 and later as a supervisor at the Office for Personal Data Protection.
LVS PLANS TO INCREASE INVESTMENT IN CHINA, GOLDSTEIN TELLS CHINESE OFFICIAL China’s Vice-Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen, met with the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS), Robert Goldstein, this week in Beijing.
Goldstein stressed that as the world’s two largest economies, China and the United States can benefit each other and the world through their cooperation, according to Xinhua News Agency.
In the meeting, held on Wednesday, the CEO of Sands China’s parent company added that Las Vegas Sands Corp plans to continue increasing its investment in China for mutually beneficial outcomes, as quoted by the Chinese state news agency. Sands China’s executive vice chairman Wilfred Wong also joined the meeting. Wang said China encourages foreign businesses, including Las Vegas Sands Corp, to seize opportunities in the
market.
The vice-minister noted that “the Chinese economy has demonstrated strong resilience and intrinsic momentum, which plays a crucial role in boosting global confidence in development.” Wang indicated that China welcomes foreign businesses to share in the country’s development dividends.
MELCO OPENS BANGKOK OFFICE AS THAILAND READIES TO EMBRACE GAMING Melco Resorts & Entertainment has opened an office in Bangkok and is starting to build a team in Thailand’s capital, said the gaming and integrated resorts operator’s CEO, Lawrence Ho.
His remarks were made in Bangkok at an event announcing a partnership between Melco and the National Soft Power Strategy Committee (THACCA), a body established by Thailand’s prime minister. The Bangkok Post reported that Melco is interested in investing in hotels and integrated resorts in the country. The
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