MACAU BUSINESS
“It’s anyone’s guess as there are several ways to read the tea leaves”, Mr Lee stressed to Macau Business. In this respect the consultation document states that “Restricting the number of concessions does not mean reducing the sector’s competitiveness”
concession of Galaxy. Later on, Melco became a sub-concession of Wynn and MGM operated as a sub-concession of SJM. Ben Lee contemplates three scenarios: (1) keeping the
status quo, meaning that the three sub-concessions become concessions making it six operators on equal footing; (2) the number of concessions being less that six; and (3) one last “seems to have been discounted by most is that it could be back to the original three envisaged by Beijing when they approved the liberalization of the gaming industry”.
22 NOVEMBER 2021
Which scenario is the most likely? “It’s anyone’s guess
as there are several ways to read the tea leaves”, Mr Lee stressed to Macau Business. In this respect the consultation document states that “Restricting the number of concessions does not mean reducing the sector’s competitiveness”. As for how long will the new concessions last, the document also fails to shed light on that. It does, nevertheless, suggest possible adjustments to both the current maximum concession term – 20 years under the current gaming law - and the extended concession period which now is up to five years. “Ten years appear to be a reasonable period of time to invest, develop and to recoup the new investments likely needed”, Mr Lee suggests.
Enter the Government delegate
A subsequent question arises. Under which conditions will the concessionaires operate in the new regime? Increased supervision and control is set to be the way forward. This does not come as a surprise to observers. Carlos Siu underlines that the Macau government has been issuing a number of laws and regulations related to gaming in the past years to lay the foundation. “For instance, the money laundering regulations, the new structure of Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau (DICJ) in mid-June. With the appointment of new
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