Macau has appointed a legal prosecutor as the new head of the city-state’s gambling regulator.
On Friday, Macau’s Secretary for Economic and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac named assistant public prosecutor-general Paulo Martins Chan as the new director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) effective Dec. 1.
Chan replaces the outgoing Manuel Joquim das Neves, who announced last month that he would step down on Nov. 25 from the role he’s occupied for the past 18 years. Das Neves has been the only man to hold the DICJ’s reins of power since Macau liberalized its casino market in the early part of the last decade.
Leong said Chan was a good choice to take over due to his legal background and his fluency in both Chinese and Portuguese, as the latter language is still widely used in Macau’s legal environment, a legacy of Macau’s history as a Portuguese colony.
Leong said Chan’s appointment would give the DICJ a better handle over law enforcement issues, as well as the agency’s efforts to optimize gaming regulations. Under pressure from Beijing, Macau has been tightening oversight of its casino industry in areas such as junket operation, employee wellbeing as well as continuing to reinvent the market from its pure gaming focus into a more diversified entertainment destination.
Chan takes over at a pivotal point in Macau’s history, as the city-state’s casino gaming revenue has fallen for 17 straight months, a situation that doesn’t appear set to end anytime soon. Last week, Daiwa analysts said unofficial estimates of casino revenue in the first week of November were down 38.5% year-on-year despite the recent opening of Melco Crown Entertainment’s flashy new Studio City resort.
