Curtains for Junkets?<\/strong><\/h2>\nChau, the boss of the world\u2019s biggest junket, was arrested in late November by authorities in Macau. He is accused of operating offshore online gaming sites that illegally targeted the citizens of Macau and mainland China.<\/p>\n
Just days before his detention, prosecutors in the city of Wenzhou in eastern China issued a warrant for Chau\u2019s arrest. He is in custody on charges of facilitating cross-border gambling.<\/p>\n
The message was clear: Chinese authorities were no longer in the mood to tolerate the junket industry. The businesses lend money to high rollers from the mainland to gamble in Macau, bypassing controls on the movement of money.<\/p>\n
Beijing is engaged in an escalating war against cross-border gambling and those who facilitate it. That’s as it seeks greater control of private capital to maintain the stability of the foreign exchange rate.<\/strong><\/p>\nMacau is an autonomous special administrative region (SAR), under the one country, two systems policy. But Beijing is exerting a creeping control over the gambling hub, and there are indications that Macau is willing to do its bidding by phasing out the junket model. Late last week, Macau\u2019s gaming regulator, DICJ, told the junkets to stop lending money to VIP clients.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Junket Workers Seek Help<\/strong><\/h2>\nCasinos are also facing uncertainty over the future of the junket model. Some are taking no chances and have shut their junket VIP rooms.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, employees of Macau\u2019s 85 registered junket operators fear for their jobs. The collapse of the industry could leave thousands out of work.<\/p>\n
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Suncity\u2019s junket arm, Sun City Gaming Promotion Company (SCGP), announced it would cease operating last Friday. On Wednesday, the union that represents gaming workers, the Federation of Workers\u2019 Associations of Macau (FAOM), said it received requests for support from 700 workers affected by the closure of junket VIP rooms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Last week, the Macau Labor Affairs Bureau reminded junkets operators they had an obligation to protect the labor rights of employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Macau\u2019s junkets say they are being kept \u2018in confusion and fear\u2019 about the future of their industry, following the arrest last month of Suncity CEO Alvin Chau. Veteran junket investor Luiz Lam Kai Kuong told Macau Business Wednesday that the gambling hub\u2019s government had failed to provide \u201cconcrete answers about what is happening and what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":195642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Macau Government Keeping Junkets in Dark About Post Suncity Future<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n