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Sunday, 31 January 2010
Sands says no place for junkets in Singapore
Casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp is not banking on using any VIP gambling junket operators at its US$6 billion Singapore casino resort because of the strictness of licensing requirements in the city state.
Casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp is not banking on using any VIP gambling junket operators at its US$6 billion Singapore casino resort because of the strictness of licensing requirements in the city state.
“We are building our [Singapore] organisation on the anticipation that we do no junket business,” Las Vegas Sands president and chief operating officer Michael Leven told an investors’ conference in Las Vegas on Thursday.
“We think that junket operators will not apply for licences under the restrictions in Singapore, with the exception of potentially a few local junket operators out of Singapore itself. The disclosure items in that situation are very, very difficult and we don’t think they’ll do it,” he said.
Junket agents are the middlemen who bring high rollers to casinos, issue them credit for gambling and collect debts. They are ubiquitous in Macau, the world’s largest casino market, where they drive the majority of VIP gambling volumes - including at Sands’ own Venetian, Sands and Four Seasons casino hotels.
Macau’s casinos rely on gamblers from China, where junkets often resort to extrajudicial methods of debt collection because - unlike in the United States, Singapore or even Hong Kong - casino debt is not enforceable via the court system.
At the same time, they are subject to only modest oversight. Macau had 167 corporate and individual “gaming promoters” who were licensed to operate as of December, according to Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data published this week. But senior Macau officials have previously acknowledged that 4,000 junket “collaborators” also operate in the city, and they are subject to little if any regulation.
In Singapore, by contrast, junket agents will be required to disclose highly detailed personal information about themselves and their players. Would-be high rollers travelling on junkets will be required to disclose their names, home addresses, passport numbers, and the value of all free amenities received from the casino or junket.
The junket operators themselves must go a few steps further. They are required to make detailed financial disclosures, foot the bill for their own background checks and submit to finger and palm printing, among other measures.
Casinos planning to host junket players must provide Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority with a report five days in advance that details its agreement with the junket organiser, including the commission rates to be paid. Casinos must follow up with an arrival report at least an hour before play begins, listing each player’s name and biographical data.
Given the situation in Singapore, Sands plans to do away with junket agents altogether and market itself directly to high stakes players once it opens its 2,500-room Marina Bay Sands casino complex - which analysts now expect will launch in stages from April or May.
The Marina Bay Sands will feature around 600 gaming tables in its casino with 110 tables in its VIP-only Paiza club, as well as about 1,500 slot machines, Leven said.
“We’ve geared up our organisation to do premium direct play, with credit, and mass-market play,” he said.
The effective tax rate on VIP gaming revenue in Singapore is 12 per cent, compared with Macau’s 39 per cent. The lower tax rate means that both Sands and rival Genting Group, which is building a US$4.7 billion casino resort on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, will be able to pay out higher rebates as incentives to the VIP gamblers who do choose to visit the city.
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Sands says no place for junkets in Singapore
Neil Gough
30 January 2010
Casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp is not banking on using any VIP gambling junket operators at its US$6 billion Singapore casino resort because of the strictness of licensing requirements in the city state.
“We are building our [Singapore] organisation on the anticipation that we do no junket business,” Las Vegas Sands president and chief operating officer Michael Leven told an investors’ conference in Las Vegas on Thursday.
“We think that junket operators will not apply for licences under the restrictions in Singapore, with the exception of potentially a few local junket operators out of Singapore itself. The disclosure items in that situation are very, very difficult and we don’t think they’ll do it,” he said.
Junket agents are the middlemen who bring high rollers to casinos, issue them credit for gambling and collect debts. They are ubiquitous in Macau, the world’s largest casino market, where they drive the majority of VIP gambling volumes - including at Sands’ own Venetian, Sands and Four Seasons casino hotels.
Macau’s casinos rely on gamblers from China, where junkets often resort to extrajudicial methods of debt collection because - unlike in the United States, Singapore or even Hong Kong - casino debt is not enforceable via the court system.
At the same time, they are subject to only modest oversight. Macau had 167 corporate and individual “gaming promoters” who were licensed to operate as of December, according to Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data published this week. But senior Macau officials have previously acknowledged that 4,000 junket “collaborators” also operate in the city, and they are subject to little if any regulation.
In Singapore, by contrast, junket agents will be required to disclose highly detailed personal information about themselves and their players. Would-be high rollers travelling on junkets will be required to disclose their names, home addresses, passport numbers, and the value of all free amenities received from the casino or junket.
The junket operators themselves must go a few steps further. They are required to make detailed financial disclosures, foot the bill for their own background checks and submit to finger and palm printing, among other measures.
Casinos planning to host junket players must provide Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority with a report five days in advance that details its agreement with the junket organiser, including the commission rates to be paid. Casinos must follow up with an arrival report at least an hour before play begins, listing each player’s name and biographical data.
Given the situation in Singapore, Sands plans to do away with junket agents altogether and market itself directly to high stakes players once it opens its 2,500-room Marina Bay Sands casino complex - which analysts now expect will launch in stages from April or May.
The Marina Bay Sands will feature around 600 gaming tables in its casino with 110 tables in its VIP-only Paiza club, as well as about 1,500 slot machines, Leven said.
“We’ve geared up our organisation to do premium direct play, with credit, and mass-market play,” he said.
The effective tax rate on VIP gaming revenue in Singapore is 12 per cent, compared with Macau’s 39 per cent. The lower tax rate means that both Sands and rival Genting Group, which is building a US$4.7 billion casino resort on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, will be able to pay out higher rebates as incentives to the VIP gamblers who do choose to visit the city.
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