The draft of the much-expected gaming law bill was approved by the AL in January of this year and sent to the second standing committee level for evaluation, with a total of four meetings scheduled last week alone as legislators aim to finish the final amendment draft before the planned June 26, 2022 gaming concession expiration deadline.

The licences of the six operators, Wynn Macau, Sands China, MGM China, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Resorts, are all due to expire in June this year.

Local authorities have so far only indicated that all existing or potential operators need to apply through a new tender process but have not disclosed when operators will have to bid or whether the current licence term will be extended.

Among many changes, the draft bill sets a maximum of six gaming concessions that can operate for up to ten years, with a 3-year extension possible under exceptional circumstances. The amendment proposal also includes a number of new regulations for both casino operators and gaming promoters.

Speaking after the lunch, Koud added that the committee deliberation progresswas “quite satisfactory and that he was confident that the deliberation could be completed as scheduled before June, TDM Radio reported.

The committee has already submitted opinions to the government on the amendment of the gaming law and is awaiting a response.

One of the issues included in the bill that generated more discussion at the plenary was the requirement that any casino operating in Macau will have to be established in an asset that is owned by a gaming concessionaire, implying the current ‘satellite casino’ system would have to be suspended.

Legislators have also requested the government to clarify a clause in the gaming law amendment bill concerning what would constitute endangerment to national security.

The bill suggests that the Macau government would have the right to terminate a concessionaire’s contract for reasons including threats to national security, public interest, or breaching of its contractual obligations.

Kou also highlighted that AL will have plenty of “arduous tasks in the future” and will continue to cooperate with the SAR government in accelerating moderate economic diversification, optimizing social and resident’s livelihood, deepening administrative reforms, promoting the development of the Hengqin cooperation zone, and rule of law.

Six bills were approved in the first four months of the first session of the new AL session initiated in October, 2021, with 11 bills currently under evaluation by the body’s three standing committees.

The bills under evaluation range from amendments to local gaming, financial and tax legislation, to elevator safety and tertiary education support institutions regulations.

The previous legislative session saw a total of 22 bills and one resolution approved.