Suspicious casino deals reach 300,000 in 2010

University of Macau professor Jorge Godinho said the revision of the land law could well affect operators who are yet to develop granted blocks of land, like Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment

In 2010 local casinos filed almost 300,000 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) with the gaming regulator. However, only two of those transactions ended up in court.
According to official data disclosed on Tuesday, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) received 293,931 STRs last year, up 46 percent from 2009. The more suspicious cases are then sent to the Financial Intelligence Office.
“Most suspicious cases reported are due to patrons who didn’t provide the necessary information,” DICJ legal adviser Duarte Chagas said during the first edition of the Annual Review of Macau Gaming Law.
The STRs were created as a tool to prevent money laundering. But in the last four years the number of cases sent to the Public Attorney’s Office (MP) was only a small percentage of all reports.
In 2007, 64 cases were sent to the MP, a figure that rose to around 100 in the last three years. Of those, only five resulted in prosecution and then later in convictions: one in 2007, another in 2008 and three in 2009.
“It’s not a very high number but that’s what happens in all jurisdictions,” Chagas said. He also stressed that the five convictions may not have been linked to money laundering but to other crimes such as tax evasion.

Concession barter

The current gaming concessions, which will end after 2020, are likely to be renewed but the government is also expected to ask for more from casino operators, Whittier Law School professor Nelson Rose said yesterday.
“Universally, it’s normal for governments to get greedy” when negotiating new gaming licences, the US expert said at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia.
Even though Rose believes the Administration will not want to take back the land granted, he stressed that authorities will have “huge power” in negotiations.
And that power, the visiting scholar said, could be used to demand more investment, including public infrastructure, or “to raise taxes”.
On the other hand, University of Macau (UM) professor Jorge Godinho said, the revision of the land law could well affect operators who are yet to develop granted blocks of land, like Sands China and Galaxy Entertainment.
“It’s very clear that the major thrust is to be more demanding,” he said. The new land law “will be a landmark” if it is able to “treat everyone the same way,” Godinho added.
Rose agreed: “Sands will not be allowed a limitless period of time to develop its land”. Sands China has only until April 2013 to develop Cotai plot 3.
The Legislative Assembly will meanwhile begin to discuss a government proposal to raise the minimum age for entry and employment in a casino from 18 to 21. And despite some controversy, the two experts believe the move respects the MSAR Basic Law.
“In a recent conference it was said it [raising the entry age] could be discriminatory, unconstitutional,” Godinho recalled.
“But I believe there are sound reasons to raise the age. I don’t see a constitutional problem here,” the UM professor said.
Rose shared the same view: “That question has been looked at in other parts of the world and it’s always been allowed”.
“I’m sure they are going to say it’s ok,” Rose predicted.