The Macau government’s recent inquiry into Macao Studio City’s idle site on the Cotai strip is raising interest that the land will be given over to another party.
Macau Perspective: Labour Laws
25 May, 2010
Macau’s new laws on imported labour appear to be backfiring, scorching all involved - the casino operators, the workers and the government.
Macau Perspective: The Cap That Doesn’t Fit
01 Apr, 2010
A ceremony to announce the re-commencement of work on the Cotai Strip’s lots 5&6 was abruptly cancelled earlier this week, just days after Macau’s operators were handed a new limit on their table games.
Macau Perspective: The Missing Link
05 Mar, 2010
A seemingly innocuous executive order issued by the new Macau Chief Executive carries with it the possibility of major upheaval in the way US gambling operators relate to the Macau government and the ability of their bankers to reconcile with Macau's legal framework.
Macau Perspective: Junket Tax
19 Jan, 2010
The recent return to significant growth in the Macau casino sector has boosted the market’s six licensed gaming operators, but closer analysis of the tax treatment of the casinos’ all-important junket partners suggests that they, too, could be enjoying favourable times.
Macau Perspective: Sharing and Caring
23 Dec, 2009
Few statistics in Macau are more closely watched than those relating to operator market share, but the elusive figures are more interesting for what they conceal.
Macau Perspective: Bunny Boilers
30 Nov, 2009
An announcement from eSun Holdings Limited confirmed that Playboy has cancelled its plan to open an entertainment venue in conjunction with their Macau Studio City project. The company didn't say why Playboy had terminated the project, but a recent Hong Kong court hearing provides some clues.
Macau Perspective: Shifting Sands
25 Nov, 2009
Sands China’s IPO this week was the third largest in Hong Kong this year and the seventh largest globally, but with trading in the newly-floated business scheduled to begin next week on the main board of the SEHK, it is far from clear whether their claims for their prospective markets can ever be met.
Macau Perspective: Water Torture
17 Nov, 2009
Watery news that began as a trickle has quickly become an alarmist flood in Macau. Reports began surfacing last week that the SAR’s casinos might have their taps turned off - in a way that has little to do with the individual travel visa scheme - and that Macau is facing a looming drought.
Macau Perspective: The Great Land Giveaway
29 Oct, 2009
Galaxy's land contract was published last week in Macau’s government gazette and within it were clauses that other gaming concessionaires do not yet have — including, perhaps most significantly in their strata title, the right to build “apartment-hotels” or serviced apartments.