Fresh Beijing crackdown on dirty Macau cash anticipated as VIP casino revenues surge
High-profile takings up 34.8 per cent in second quarter year-on-year amid warning against capital flight
A surge in VIP takings at Macau casinos coupled with an unprecedented warning from its biggest junket operator about the dangers of moving money in and out of the city have sparked fears that the world’s top gaming hub could see Beijing launch a fresh crackdown on dirty cash.
More than three years into a drive to transform the city’s gaming industry from a high-rolling conduit for huge volumes of illicit money from the mainland into a more family-oriented, mass market destination, the latest official data shows a significant jump in the very VIP revenues Beijing wants to curtail.
The VIP rise comes as China continues its ever expanding effort to block available avenues for capital flight, most notably with recent high-profile curbs on investments by some of the country’s largest conglomerates.
Normally, that would have shored up the value of shares in the city’s main gaming operators, but instead, following the data’s release, gaming stocks declined in value to varying degrees.