Midland Macau suspends commercial operations

Midland Macau, a real estate company held by Midland Holdings Ltd., has had to suspend its operations for the month of July following the expiration of its real estate agency’s temporary licence on June 30. The group is currently in the process of renewing the licence, with expectations that the procedure will be completed by the end of July, according to Chinese language newspaper Macao Daily on Sunday. On July 1, Midland Macau initiated the suspension of its operations and business activities.
Rules are rules
The new Real Estate Business Law, effective from July 1 2013, mandates a
three-year temporary real estate licence for brokers that consequently requires property agencies in the city to apply for licence renewals before July 1.
Brian Chu, managing director of Midland Macau and Zhuhai said that the company would not withdraw from the Macau market and must merely complete the procedure of renewing its agency licence, requiring time.
The Housing Bureau requires four management staff from Midland Macau to conduct the registration in person, and given that some of the company individuals needed to come from Hong Kong, Midland Macau has made a request to the Bureau to speed up the process. The renewal, however, will still take more than 20 days to complete, Mr. Chu said.
Currently, Midland Macau is taking the opportunity to increase staff training. The company also decided to close down one branch – a street-level ground floor office – and plan a move into a high-end office building, Mr. Chu said. The real estate firm plans to hire 50 new staff in the future and Chu stresses that Macau is still an important market for the company.