ASIAN ROUNDUP
Asia in review: 2024 a year of change DESPITE BEING HOME TO OVER HALF THE WORLD’S POPULATION AND A VIBRANT SET OF ECONOMIES, WE DON’T ALWAYS HEAR ENOUGH ABOUT ASIA. IF YOU COULD REDRESS THE BALANCE WITH AN ARTICLE WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU. MEANWHILE, PHIL SAVAGE REPORTS ON THE BIGGEST REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION IN 2024.
M acau will have a new Chief Executive before the end of the year, with former president of the Court of Final Appeal, Sam Hou Fong, recently confirmed as replacing Ho Iat Seng, who is standing aside due to ill health. Mr. Ho has not been idle in his final few months, however. His administration introduced a new Law on Illegal Gambling Activities which came into effect on October 1st. The law is a continuation of Macau’s process of reinvention as it pivots away from the junket market towards more profitable mass and premium mass segments. The new law aims to achieve three things: better definition of illegal gambling, stiffer penalties for those involved and new powers for the authorities to pursue criminal investigations. It also introduces two new criminal offenses: ‘illegal online gambling’ and ‘operation of illegal foreign exchange for gambling’.
The definition of online gambling or online betting now includes:
• Games of chance and mutual betting; • Games played or wagered remotely;
• Use of electronic, computer, telematic, or interactive systems or any other means, regardless of the servers and devices being located in Macau. Side betting, a focus of Macau’s most notorious junket trial, is outlawed as are Illegal mutual betting and illegal lotteries. Illegal money exchangers were prevalent around Macau’s casinos and the authorities have now criminalized illegal foreign exchange for gambling. Tough new criminal sanctions have been introduced with prison sentences of up to eight years for those collaborating in illegal online gambling, and up to three years for side betting.
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IMGL MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2024
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