Macau’s Chief Executive Fernando Chui Expects Stronger Regulations

The casino industry in Macau has suffered immensely from the anti-corruption crackdown imposed by Beijing and the casino industry has reportedly lost over $100 billion in 2014. Prior to 2014, the biggest gambling hub in the world had very few regulations and a number of illegal activities flourished such as money laundering, prostitution and racketeering.

The anti-corruption campaign imposed by Beijing has intensified with every passing month and Macau’s VIP gamblers have decided to take their business elsewhere as they do not want to run the risk of being questioned by the authorities.

Macau’s Chief Executive Fernando Chui has been under a lot of pressure from Beijing to change Macau’s image of being the world’s biggest casino hub into a city that has diversified business interests.

On Monday, Chief Executive Fernando Chui and the leader of Macau stated that there would be no let up on the anti-corruption campaign and Macau’s casinos can expect more stringent regulations to be rolled out in the coming months. In a statement, Chui said

The Macau government’s supervision of the gaming industry is not excessive. Nor will it be excessive in future. We will remain cautiously optimistic [about its prospects].

Macau has asked casinos to diversify their business and create an environment that was more family oriented. As many as six gambling contracts are set to expire between 2020 -2022 and Macau will most likely renew these contracts only if these casinos can demonstrate a diversification in their business portfolio. Macau has not confirmed what criteria it will use in the coming months to grant licenses.

Casino owners will not be happy with the announcements made by Chief Executive Fernando Chui as these new regulations will most definitely impact their business and cut down on their profit margins. The lack of business will most likely result in a reduction of their workforce resulting in unemployment for a number of casino workers. Macau’s government anticipates a rise in unemployment as the casino industry accounts for Macau’s biggest source of income. Chief Executive Fernando Chui is looking to develop other industries so that new jobs can be created to absorb the influx of laid off casino workers.

Macau is also looking to promote a number of training programs which will be offered either as free or at a subsidized rate to train casino employees and give them a new skill-set and career.