Macau gaming regulator confirms iGaming inspections conducted during MGS
Macau’s gaming regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), says it conducted joint supervisory inspections of last week’s MGS Entertainment Show as part of an ongoing campaign to ensure exhibitors at the SAR’s gaming-related exhibitions are not engaging in the display or promotion of consumer-facing iGaming products.
The operation, carried out alongside the Judicial Police and Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), involved “various surveillance actions” to check whether exhibitors were promoting illegal online games, the creation of gaming websites or other activities related to illicit gambling.
No such cases were detected, although unspecified irregularities individually committed by some exhibitors were corrected on the spot, the DICJ said.
Information leaflets were also distributed to all exhibitors clarifying Macau’s legal provisions.
The inspections at MGS mirror a similar operation conducted by the DICJ at G2E Asia in May following reports that some exhibitors were allegedly bending the rules in regards to their online gaming content.
G2E Asia released a statement at the time insisting it “has worked closely with the Macao SAR authorities to ensure the integrity of the show and that its exhibitors meet with all regulatory and legal requirements.”
It added that, “Every scheduled exhibitor at G2E Asia 2019 has committed to not display ‘any product or service that may be categorized as a consumer-facing product related to online or mobile gaming’.”
It was during this year’s G2E Asia that the event’s organizers, the American Gaming Association and Reed Exhibitions, announced they would hold G2E Asia @ the Philippines for the first time on 3 and 4 December.
In a statement of its own released this week, the DICJ said, “By fostering the healthy development of Macau’s gaming sector, the DICJ will continue to carry out oversight and promotion activities by various means, maintaining close collaboration with the relevant departments in the joint fight against illicit gambling activities.”
