The Macau government has received MOP299 million (US$48.8 million) in taxes on commissions paid by casinos to junket operators in 2019, a 24 per cent year-on-year drop, according to the last year’s budget execution report.
Government taxes on junkets falls in 2019 (Macau Business)
To say that the Crown Sydney probity hearings haven’t gone well would be an immense understatement: A better description would be “unmitigated disaster.” Governance at Crown Resorts has been made to look ridiculous, and billionaire James Packer last week made an unenviable transition from being merely a controversial figure to becoming a toxic presence threatening to drag the entire Crown Resorts empire into ruin.
The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry was called to investigate revelations by various Australian media outlets last year about Crown’s partnerships with the junkets tasked with bringing Chinese high rollers to its casinos. At stake is the A$2.2 billion (US$1.6 billion) Crown Sydney complex, the city’s tallest building, approved in 2013 and scheduled to open this December.
But if a probity hearing is all about determining whether or not a business possesses the moral fitness and the culture of compliance necessary to operate a gambling enterprise, there is probably no one who can argue that Crown Resorts’ performance before the ILGA inquiry came anywhere near meeting the test.
Even Packer himself clearly realized that his appearance had been a calamity, acknowledging that it would no longer be possible for him to play an active role at the firm, saying, “I think caps on shareholdings may be something that you will think about. I think this has been a terribly painful and terribly shocking experience for the board, as it has been for me. I won’t be going on the board again. I think the board will be more independent than it was in the past.” That, too, may be an understatement.
One of the core revelations that have emerged from the hearings was that Packer, by virtue of his 36 percent shareholding, contacts, and forceful personality, had been driving many aspects of company policy even after he left the board, and when he theoretically shouldn’t have been receiving the privileged information and decision-making role that he was.
It was also Packer, we learned, who was the “driving force” behind the controversial partnerships with junket operators, though he blamed his company executives, by name, for failing to manage the operations properly.
Packer also declined to take responsibility for his own personal threats against an unidentified businessman. While he described his own actions as “shameful” and “disgraceful,“ he ultimately felt that it wasn’t a reflection upon his personal character. “My medical state is what it reflected most on,” Packer asserted.
He did, however, acknowledge that he should have made a public announcement about his mental problems, revealed last week to be bipolar disorder, when he resigned as chairman in August 2015, but still remained on the board.
Commentary in the Australian media has rightfully been acid, and the calls for a major shakeup at Crown Resorts have become nearly universal.
As the Sydney Morning Herald put it, “The evidence… from billionaire businessman James Packer about his behaviour as director and principal shareholder at Crown Resorts leaves no doubt that fundamental change is needed if the company is to continue to operate casinos in Melbourne, Perth, and soon Sydney.”
The Australian Financial Review added, “At the very least, if Crown wants to keep its licence, its existing management must be replaced and it must accept much more rigorous and intrusive regulation.”
As the new week dawns, the ball is very much in Crown Resort’s court. To what degree can they separate themselves from the now-toxic James Packer? What actions will they take to salvage their license to open Crown Sydney… or perhaps even to keep their operations in Melbourne and Perth, where sleeping regulators are also beginning to awaken? We intend to watch closely.
Victor Dominello, 53, is the New South Wales Minister for Customer Service. His portfolio includes oversight of gambling in the state, and he is shaking up the pokies industry with bold initiatives.
Specifically, Dominello has called for patrons of poker machines to be required to register for government-issued gambling cards and to be prevented from using cash. These gambling cards would link to the state’s exclusion register to block thousands of self-excluded gamblers from using pokies in the state. He is also considering a proposal to mandate use of facial recognition technology at the venues where pokies are located.
Educated as a lawyer, Dominello has spent almost a decade in various cabinet posts of the Liberal Party-led state government, including stints as Minister for Finance, Services and Property and Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation.
Indeed, the need for innovation and better regulation summarizes much of the message that Dominello transmits to his constituents. He has become something like an evangelist for digitalization, explaining, “When it comes to technology, some prefer to push the brake on progress. Others prefer to press the accelerator on oversight. I am in communion with the latter.”
He also recently explained, “Digital transformation is not a technology shift; it’s a mind shift. We need to transform our hearts and minds (i.e. take a closer look at culture, in order to rapidly accelerate)… We are on an unprecedented digital transformation journey in New South Wales and in many ways we are just warming up. By shifting culture, the possibilities for digital transformation are endless. Our ambition is for New South Wales to be the undisputed digital leader of the southern hemisphere within the next three years.”
It is this same attitude toward technology that Dominello is bringing to his portfolio of oversight of the state’s gambling industry. Speaking of his recent initiative to create state gambling cards, he explained, “We have an opportunity with technology to solve wicked problems around gambling addiction. For example, a player card would enable self declared problem gamblers to work with their loved ones and counsellors to place healthy limits on the amounts they gamble.”
He added, “There are thousands of clubs and pubs that are at various stages of digital maturity. By helping them accelerate to digital – we create MORE JOBS in the tech sector as well as helping those in need. A win-win. When it comes to digital – the great state of New South Wales must continue to lead.”
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The one single daily briefing (finally) you’ll ever need to get the pulse of the gaming industry in Asia. First, we bring you the news: enhanced coverage of the latest daily headlines that are moving markets – directly from the horse’s mouth. Then we dive into the issues behind the headlines providing industry context – AND – actionable insights in a range of bite-sized formats. Let us know what you think of the revamp.
Meanwhile… here’s what we have in store for you today:
There has been a reset of the IR development timeline in Japan, adding a degree of credibility to the process that has been missing for many months. Down in Australia, it has been impossible to miss the calamity which has befallen Crown Resorts, whose central figure, James Packer, has in the wake of his testimony at the New South Wales probity hearings made a transition from being merely controversial to becoming positively toxic.
After spending most of this year in denial or else paralyzed by the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Japanese central government has finally made a credible decision about its IR development plans, which is to push back the timeline by nine months. Japan Tourism Agency’s revised guidelines now state that they will accept licensing applications from local governments and their consortium partners from October 1, 2021, to April 28, 2022. The reaction from the interested local governments has been remarkably mixed.
The Philippine government’s target to double revenue from online gambling looks to be on shaky ground, as only half the operators have resumed business following Covid-19 and other licensing jurisdictions seek to benefit from the fallout. More evidence has emerged that Philippines Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) are looking for alternative licensing jurisdictions, despite the best efforts of some Filipino politicians to deny an “exodus” from the country is taking place. Out of 60 licensed POGOs, only 33 have permission to restart their business. At issue is a demand to pay back taxes and a new 5 percent levy on turnover, replacing a 2 percent tax on gross revenue.
Movers & Shakers
Victor Dominello, 53, is the New South Wales Minister for Customer Service. His portfolio includes oversight of gambling in the state, and he is shaking up the pokies industry with bold initiatives. Specifically, Dominello has called for patrons of poker machines to be required to register for government-issued gambling cards and to be prevented from using cash. These gambling cards would link to the state’s exclusion register to block thousands of self-excluded gamblers from using pokies in the state. He is also considering a proposal to mandate use of facial recognition technology at the venues where pokies are located.
First Word
To say that the Crown Sydney probity hearings haven’t gone well would be an immense understatement: A better description would be “unmitigated disaster.” Governance at Crown Resorts has been made to look ridiculous, and billionaire James Packer last week made an unenviable transition from being merely a controversial figure to becoming a toxic presence threatening to drag the entire Crown Resorts empire into ruin. The New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry was called to investigate revelations by various Australian media outlets last year about Crown’s partnerships with the junkets tasked with bringing Chinese high rollers to its casinos. At stake is the A$2.2 billion (US$1.6 billion) Crown Sydney complex, the city’s tallest building, approved in 2013 and scheduled to open this December.
SkyCity Auckland will be permitted to operate without any Covid-19 related restrictions such as social distancing or limitations on the size of gatherings, the company has announced.
Retention of existing customers remains priority number one for the coming months. And above all, high-quality content will ultimately prove key to engagement. Enter Habanero’s latest smash-hit, Happy Ape. We went bananas with new features in the action-packed 5×3 release, which encourages Jungle Book fans to access modifiers and multipliers by unlocking the game’s alluring treasure chest.
VBET has continued to grow its partnership network, inking new deals with sportsbook platform provider BtoBet and online casino software developer SoftGamings. BtoBet has a strong focus on African markets, which dovetails with the plans of the TV games provider.
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After spending most of this year in denial or else paralyzed by the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Japanese central government has finally made a credible decision about its IR development plans, which is to push back the timeline by nine months.
Japan Tourism Agency’s revised guidelines now state that they will accept licensing applications from local governments and their consortium partners from October 1, 2021, to April 28, 2022.
The reaction from the interested local governments has been remarkably mixed. They ranged from the Osaka leaders who called the decision both “reasonable” and even “welcome,” to the quite neutral comments of the Nagasaki governor, to the statement by Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi that “the schedule is tight,” to the very negative reaction of Wakayama Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka, who denounced the schedule change, noting, “I am very dissatisfied and this is quite regrettable as the prefecture worked as hard as we could to meet the national government’s original schedule.”
The dividing line seems to have fallen between those who firmly believed what the central government repeatedly told them (i.e. that there would be no delay) and those who looked around the nation and around the world and understood that the central government pronouncements possessed a growing air of unreality as the global pandemic took hold.
The nine month delay could turn out to be very significant in terms of which local governments obtain the three available IR licenses.
It probably makes no real difference to the near-certainty of Osaka’s licensing success, a factor which helps to account for their relatively positive view on the delay.
It could be an existential matter for Yokohama’s bid, however, as the nine-month delay will force Fumiko Hayashi to fight and win a mayoral reelection battle with her highly unpopular IR initiative as the leading issue of the campaign. The nine month delay has foreclosed her opportunity to meet the people with a fait accompli, as the election will now come before the IR application window.
What may concern Wakayama and Nagasaki the most is that the delay might give time for another local government to pop up and to make an IR bid, thus pushing them out of the winners’ circle.
If other local governments do join the race, the most likely candidates would be Tokyo, Tokoname (Aichi), or Tomakomai (Hokkaido).
Wakayama is also faced with the question over whether or not it will stick with its two current bidders–Suncity Group and Clairvest Group–or else to reopen their process to other potential operators. The Nagasaki government was wise enough to keep their options open.
National politicians of various opposition political parties joined a street rally outside Yokohama Station in an effort to encourage the city government to abandon its IR development plans. This action was taken in support of the signature gathering campaign calling for a popular referendum on the issue.
「市民の力で誘致阻止を」 住民投票賛同政党、街頭で訴え (Kanagawa Shinbun)
The MGTO reported that hotel occupancy in Macau over the Golden Week holiday was down by 50.4 percent over the Golden Week Holiday on a year-on-year basis. Specifically, this meant occupancy stood at an average of 43.6 percent.
Overview of visitor arrivals to Macao during 1st October Golden Week (MGTO)
Paradise Co. is reportedly seeking to boost its liquidity after taking “a direct hit” from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. This has included both the issuing of corporate bonds as well as stepped up efforts to secure new loans.
‘코로나 직격탄’ 파라다이스그룹, 바빠진 유동성 확보戰 (Asiae)
Commonwealth Casino Commission Chairman Edward Deleon Guerrero claims that his body is the only one authorized to suspend or revoke the gaming license of Imperial Pacific International, apparently bidding to seize control of this authority from the Commonwealth Lottery Commission, which issued the license.
‘Only CCC has the authority to suspend or revoke casino license’ (Saipan Tribune)
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has reported that the number of Chinese and other foreign workers seeking employment in the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) sector has fallen by about half this year.
Fewer Chinese seek POGO work (PhilStar)
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