79.4% rise in casino-related STRs in 2023 due to “economic recovery”

The Financial Intelligence Office in Macau claims that the reason for the 79.4% rise in casino-related suspicious transaction reports (STRs) in 2023 over the pre-pandemic year 2019 is the economic recovery that took place during that period.

The agency responded to GGRAsia’s inquiries by stating that increased efforts by the gaming sector to detect fraudulent transactions are another factor fueling the expansion.

The office saw some changes in the sequence of the most common occurrences that resulted in casino STRs, even though they remained steady from 2019 to 2023. The most frequent causes of STRs in the gaming sector in 2023 were financial or cash exchanges, chip conversions on behalf of other parties, and chip conversions with or without modest game activity.

The casino industry in Macau registered 3,431 STRs in total in 2023—the most in a single 12-month period since records began in 2006. Compared to the total of 1,913 casino STRs in the year 2019, this data shows a significant rise of 79.4%.

In the year 2023, Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) reached MOP183.06 billion (US$22.73 billion), a remarkable 333.8 percent year-over-year gain, despite a notable increase in complaints of suspicious transactions. The 2023 GGR figure, however, still accounted for 62.6% of the MOP292.46 billion 2019 GGR.

Original story by: GGRAsia