Macau legislature passes Law No. 7/2022 amending the casino gaming law

Macau's Legislative Assembly passed Law No. 7/2022 on 21 June 2022, amending Law No. 16/2001, the framework that has governed casino gaming in the city since 2002¹. The official gazette text records the law as "二零二二年六月二十一日通過" (passed on 21 June 2022)¹. A press report said the full assembly debated the bill in detail for more than two hours before the vote, and that the law takes effect the day after publication².

The amended law keeps the number of casino concessions at a maximum of six and bans sub-concessions¹. Concession terms must be set in the concession contract and cannot exceed ten years, with a possible exceptional extension of no more than three years in total¹.

Junket rules tighten sharply. Each junket operator may work with only one concessionaire and may only earn commission, with no revenue sharing¹. A junket license is issued by the Secretary for Economy and Finance and cannot be transferred¹. Commission paid to junkets carries a 5 percent withholding tax, which the Chief Executive may partially exempt by up to 40 percent of that rate for up to five years on public interest grounds¹. Management companies may only be paid a management fee and may not share casino revenue or receive commission¹.

The law also sets out duties and penalties. Concessionaires must contribute 2 percent of gross gaming revenue annually to a public fund for cultural, social, economic, educational, scientific, academic and charitable activities, and 3 percent to urban development, tourism promotion and social security¹. The special gaming tax rate stays at 35 percent, keeping the effective rate at 40 percent³. A commentary said gaming taxes rose slightly from 39 percent to 40 percent⁴. Concessionaires face a Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau review of overall contract compliance every three years¹.

What it means for players

The six-concession cap and the ten-year term mean the operators running Macau's casinos are set to be reselected under new contracts, and the law bars transferring or encumbering a concession in any form¹. Junket-run VIP rooms lose their revenue-sharing model, which a commentary said would sharply cut junket income and its share of operator revenue³. Three "satellite" casinos had already announced closures in June 2022, and the final text allows existing operator-satellite contracts to run for the first three years of the new law, after which satellites may continue by hiring a management company³. For visitors, the rules on entry to casinos, working inside them and gambling are left to separate regulations, which the law says will be set by dedicated rules¹.

What happens next

The law took effect the day after publication². Concessionaires must submit to suitability checks by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, and the Chief Executive may set a period for a concessionaire found unsuitable to remedy the position¹. The law states that supplementary regulations will set the rules needed to implement it¹. No date for the next concession tender is given in the sources.

For background on how gambling is regulated in the city, see Can I Gamble in Macau? and Rules Inside Macau Casinos. For the wider regional picture, see Gambling Laws in Asia: What Is Legal in 12 Jurisdictions.