{"id":26887,"date":"2015-01-01T19:34:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-02T03:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=26887"},"modified":"2015-01-01T19:43:31","modified_gmt":"2015-01-02T03:43:31","slug":"macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau Junket Operators Under Scrutiny as Area’s Revenues Freefall"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Macau
Macau’s junket operators will now feel the sting of China\u2019s anti-corruption drive; the gambling hub has traditionally relied on the VIP junket industry for two-thirds of its gambling revenue. (Image: 123rf.com).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Macau junket operators, once the darlings of the gaming region’s casino industry, have been slammed recently as part of a broader corruption crackdown in the gambling hub.<\/p>\n

Macau\u2019s lucrative junket industry will face tighter controls, following the news that the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), which regulates gaming in the former Portuguese colony, has barred any junket agent with a criminal record from operating in the region.<\/p>\n

The DICJ has issued a formal notice to the junket businesses, demanding that they file regular documentation verifying the credentials of their employees, effective January 1.<\/p>\n

This comes in the wake of the announcement several weeks ago that China is set to launch an unprecedented crackdown on corruption and money laundering in the gambling hub, news that sent shares in its major casino operators tumbling. On a state visit last week to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Macau\u2019s return to Chinese rule, President\u00a0Xi Jinping warned Macau that it needed to\u00a0bolster the regulation\u00a0of its casino industry.<\/p>\n

The junket industry, which accounts for about two-thirds of Macau\u2019s gambling revenue<\/a>, is operated by middlemen who organize trips for VIP high-rollers. However, there is a conviction in Beijing that many such high-rollers are corrupt Communist Party officials removing huge sums of stolen public money from the mainland.<\/p>\n

Crooked Officials<\/h2>\n

The problem of corruption within the Communist Party has reached staggering proportions in recent times; as a result, in June, the Chinese government launched Operation Foxhunt, an international manhunt that aims to track down errant crooked officials to the fourth corners of the earth.<\/p>\n

“We will hunt them down and bring them to justice wherever they try to escape and hide,” vowed\u00a0Liu Dong, the deputy director of Beijing’s Economic Crime Investigation Department.<\/p>\n

A source told\u00a0Macau Business Daily<\/em>\u00a0that the new regulations will have major repercussions for VIP clients, \u201cespecially those from mainland China,\u201d who will from now on be required \u201cto have an account [in Macau] to issue commissions [to promoters] or withdraw gaming capital, and they can only rely on local gaming promoters.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, DICJ spokesperson\u00a0Wendy Wong\u00a0insisted that this isn\u2019t a new rule at all, but merely an existing one that the junkets are being \u201creminded\u201d about.<\/p>\n

Revenue Decline<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe government wants to make sure the gambling industry is more regulated because if you want to build a world tourism center you want to remove the negative impression that the industry projects,\u201d Carlos Siu, an associate professor of gaming research at Macao Polytechnic Institute, told Bloomberg.<\/p>\n

Recent anti-corruption initiatives from the mainland have contributed to six straight months of decline for Macau\u2019s casino revenue this year, as the high rollers are forced to stay away. On Monday, the Lusa news agency reported that projected revenue in the final month of 2014 will be between 30 percent and 32 percent lower than the same month last year, the biggest decline this year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Current restrictions on the use of UnionPay<\/a>, China\u2019s only domestic bank card, has further curbed the flow of money from the mainland, while a new blanket smoking ban, not to mention a generally weak Asian economy, has contributed to the first-ever year-on-year gaming revenue decline since Macau reverted to Chinese rule.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau junket operators, once the darlings of the gaming region’s casino industry, have been slammed recently as part of a broader corruption crackdown in the gambling hub. Macau\u2019s lucrative junket industry will face tighter controls, following the news that the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), which regulates gaming in the former Portuguese colony, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10,13,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacau Junket Operators Under Scrutiny as Area's Revenues Freefall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beijing tightens regulations on Macau junket operators, as the gambling hub reports its first ever year-on-year losses since reversion to Chinese rule.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macau Junket Operators Under Scrutiny as Area's Revenues Freefall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beijing tightens regulations on Macau junket operators, as the gambling hub reports its first ever year-on-year losses since reversion to Chinese rule.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-02T03:34:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-01-02T03:43:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"183\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Junket Operators Under Scrutiny as Area's Revenues Freefall\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-02T03:34:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-01-02T03:43:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Beijing tightens regulations on Macau junket operators, as the gambling hub reports its first ever year-on-year losses since reversion to Chinese rule.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Macau-junket-operators-under-scrutiny.jpg\",\"width\":275,\"height\":183,\"caption\":\"Macau's junket operators will now feel the sting of China\u2019s anti-corruption drive; the gambling hub has traditionally relied on the VIP junket industry for two-thirds of its gambling revenue. 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