He was away for about a year, but David Green has returned to Macau. The government has hired his recently created firm, Newpage Consultadoria, to study and consult on the gaming industry. Newpage Consultadoria has a MOP1.8-million contract to help the government in its first minimum internal risk control audit on casinos, which will focus on slot machines. The audit is to take place this year and the outcome may be a set of new rules. “There is not yet a formal set of rules for slot machines,” Mr Green told Macau Business. “The technology is moving very fast and what we need to do is to have a good set of controls in place. “The challenge is an ongoing one, not only to keep up with technology but also to be able to understand where it is heading to. There are issues from the player point of view and from the operator’s point of view, while ensuring the protection of tax revenue.” Mr Green is a familiar figure to industry insiders. The Australian has lived and worked in Macau for most of the past 10 years and is a permanent resident. His first role was with the Arthur Andersen team hired by the government in 2000 to advise on the liberalisation of the casino industry. Arthur Andersen in China merged with PricewaterhouseCoopers in June 2002, and, as a legacy Andersen partner, Mr Green became a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, serving as gaming practice director and continuing to consult for the authorities here. Newpage Consultadoria’s contract with the government, which runs until December, is not exclusive, so it can consult for other clients at the same time. It is one of the reasons that the price of its contract is lower than that of the exclusive deal the government had with Soconsult for gaming law-related services. The Soconsult contract was scrapped this year. “I would like to think it is the first step of a long partnership,” said Mr Green. First stepThe director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, Manuel Joaquim das Neves, says the government hired Newpage Consultadoria because of its longstanding consulting relationship with Mr Green. Mr Neves says it was necessary to hire an outside consultant to help with the audit because of the highly specialised know-how required. Besides having worked with the Macau government, Mr Green has also consulted on gaming for authorities in five other jurisdictions, including Australia and Taiwan. From 2004 to 2005, he worked with Singapore’s government, helping it draft legislation needed for the legalisation of casinos there. Newpage Consultadoria will help with the first audit since the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau issued the Minimum Internal Control Requirements in August 2006. They set out the government’s minimum expectations for internal risk control systems and cover a range of situations. Concessionaires must establish and maintain an adequately resourced internal audit capability, to enable frequent and thorough testing of the adequacy of internal controls. The importance of controls is growing, since the slot machine market has expanded. “In 2001, it was said slot machines were as useful as urinals,” Mr Green said. Today they provide about five percent of gross gaming revenue. Having been involved in the liberalisation of the Macau gaming industry since 2000, Mr Green recalls that he was at first doubtful about how successful it would be. Those doubts are long gone. “There is nothing like the Macau story and there will never be,” he said. Farewell, Jorge OliveiraJorge Oliveira, who was head of legal affairs for the Gaming Commission until February, is no longer in public service. The Portuguese, who was in charge of the secretary for administration and justice’s International Law Office, tendered his resignation for “family reasons” after 21 years with the Macau government. Mr Oliveira, now in Portugal, said he wanted to return to Macau, but did not know when. He is planning to go into private practice as a legal consultant. Mr Oliveira played an active role in the team in charge of preparing the liberalisation of the gaming industry in 2002. He is widely considered to be a top expert on gaming-related legal issues, and former Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah held his work in high regard.
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