bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Macau casinos might soon be required to cap commissions for agents who bring in high-rollers, a top government official said yesterday.
The government is 'positive' about setting an across-the-board cap of 1.25 per cent on the cut a VIP junket operator is allowed to take from the turnover he generates in a casino, according to Francis Tam Pak-yuen, Macau's secretary for economy and finance.
Mr Tam had a meeting with executives from Macau's six gaming firms on measures to cool cut-throat competition among casinos.
'A cap of 1.25 per cent is what the industry can largely agree upon,' Mr Tam said. 'It is positive that it will go ahead.'
He added that the government might bring in administrative or legal devices to ensure compliance.
Gaming mogul Stanley Ho Hung-sun said after the meeting that besides capping junket commissions, the government should also limit the number of gaming tables to 1,000 per concessionaire.
'Even Las Vegas has less than 4,000 tables. It'll be more than enough for Macau to have 6,000 tables so that the pie can be shared among everybody,' Mr Ho said.
But Stephen Weaver,  Asia president of Las Vegas Sands, which owns Venetian Macao,  said an across-the-board limit on junket commissions or gaming tables was a bad idea.
Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah last month imposed a freeze on the gaming industry in an effort to check  growth that threatens economic and social stability.
Junket commission levels have huge implications for gaming companies' profit margins, and Macau's six licensed casino operators have been locked in what Stanley Ho has described as a 'cut-throat' commissions war since his son Lawrence Ho Yau-lung's  company, Melco Crown Entertainment,  raised commissions in December.
The  Lawrence Ho's Crown Macau pays its licensed junket representative, AMA International,  a commission equal to 1.35 per cent of VIP gambling chip sales - 8 per cent more of a cut than  the 1.25 per cent mentioned  by Mr Tam.
Capping commissions at 1.25 per cent would be a major boon to casino firms. As of May 1, all gaming licensees except for Wynn Resorts were offering commissions equal to or higher than 1.25 per cent of chip sales, according to sources.
Junkets are run by the middlemen that control Macau's VIP market by bringing in high-rollers, lending them gambling chips and collecting their debts on behalf of the casinos.
Macau has about 200 licensed junket agents and 4,000 unofficial 'sub agents', according to officials.



Macau casinos might face cap on commissions paid to agents