Cancellation blow for Macau junket giant Tak Chun Group

Asian junket operator Tak Chun Group has reportedly confirmed that the lucrative cooperation agreements it held with Macau’s collection of six licensed casino operators have been unilaterally cancelled.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Macau-headquartered company is widely considered to be the second largest junket enterprise in the former Portuguese enclave behind only Suncity Group but has now fallen foul of new rules that will oblige such firms to be licensed and refrain from issuing credit. The source detailed that these revised directives from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau are set to come into force from the first day of January although the regulator has so far remained tight-lipped on just how it intends to officially proceed.

Abrupt annulment:

Tak Chun Group reportedly declared that the termination of its cooperation deals with the likes of the Sands China Limited subsidiary of giant American casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corporation came on ‘very short notice’ and resulted in it having ‘very limited time to make the necessary staff arrangements’. Nevertheless, the move came almost a week after Suncity Group suffered an identical fate following the arrest in mainland China of its own Chief Executive Officer and largest shareholder, Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, on charges that he was helping to facilitate illegal cross-border gambling.

Reportedly read an official statement from Tak Chun Group…

“In order to make sure that our affected staff are given more than enough notification time, the company is to provide everyone concerned with one extra month of basic salary from the effective date of retrenchment in addition to other compensation benefits.”

Coming cull:

In related news and Inside Asian Gaming used a second report to note that Macau casino operators may soon begin abandoning all of their remaining junket partnership deals owing to the fact that the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau has yet to lay out the specifics of its approaching licensing process. The source forecast that all of these arrangements could be annulled by the end of the month to leave the impacted companies running more like the marketing or travel agent establishments widely seen in Singapore and the United States.

Falling favor:

Macau is currently still home to approximately 85 junket firms that reportedly receive a commission for promoting partner casinos to wealthy gamblers while simultaneously handling such individuals’ travel, accommodation and foreign banking or credit needs for amounts that can run into the millions of dollars. However, the number of such local enterprises has purportedly been steadily declining since reaching a high of 235 in 2013 on the back of allegations they may often have links to unscrupulous individuals and organized crime syndicates.