The government changed the proposal for a “legal regime for the exploitation of games of chance in casinos”, allowing the Chief Executive to change the minimum and maximum annual limits on the gross receipts of each gaming table and machine.
This Monday (16), the spokesperson for the Legislative Assembly commission that is discussing the proposal, Chan Chak Mo, confirmed that the limits can be adjusted “at any time” in the event of “unforeseeable circumstances and irreversible factors.”
The proposed law provides that concessionaires would have to pay a special prize if annual gross revenues do not reach the minimum threshold. Faced with a change in limits during the contract, “the casino operators would not have any form of recourse, so it could be quite pernicious,” defended the analyst.
Ben Lee said he believed this clause could be an attempt to reduce "volatility in government revenues", which depend on the gambling tax.
“But what they're doing is basically pushing the risks of a volatile economy onto operators of casinos,” he added.
The change “increases uncertainty and also decreases the potential feasibility of the entry of any new investor,” warned the expert.
Current gaming licenses expire on December 31, 2022 and the government wants to go ahead with a tender to award new concessions.
Last Friday (13), Chan Chak Mo revealed that the government had withdrawn an article from the draft law that would oblige so-called 'satellite casinos' to be "located on immovable property owned by gaming concessionaires."
Ben Lee admitted it is "a major concession" after "quite dramatic" reactions from operators of these casinos who warned of a "seismic" impact in terms of job losses.
In April, Melinda Chan Mei Yi, executive director of Macau Legend, which independently operates several 'satellite casinos', said the new law could force many of these casinos to close and increase unemployment.
Even so, the analyst said that it is very likely that the overwhelming majority of satellite casinos, which have been accumulating losses since the beginning of the pandemic, will end up closing their doors.
The first to move in this direction, on April 1, was the hotel operator Grand Emperor, who announced the closure of the casino, effective June 26.
Source: Visão
