A Hong Kong-based insurance broker revealed that all major Macau hotel and casino chains have been interested in the so-called specialist risk insurance as the number of abductions over gaming debts has been constantly increasing.
Attractive insurance policies drew the attention of all hotel and casino operators providing their services in the Chinese administrative region. They pointed out that they would like to protect their venues from the negative effects a potential kidnapping of a high-profile player may have.
Ashley Coles, Assistant Director of Credit, Political, and Security Risks at prominent insurance company Jardine Lloyd Thompson, commented that the presence of many well-to-do and celebrity players on casino floors in Macau and across the Asia-Pacific region as a whole means higher risk of kidnapping incidents.
Furthermore, the current economic downfall in Mainland China and the constantly dropping gaming revenue in the world’s biggest gambling hub imminently resulted in an increase of debts. And such issues quite often are solved through bitter disputes.
In other words, Mr. Coles claimed that “there is a correlation” between the current state of affairs in China, Macau, and the gambling operators’ interest in the purchase of insurance policies.
Such policies often include the involvement of the so-called crisis responders that are well-prepared to resolve kidnapping disputes and prevent hotel and casino venues from legal liability.
Kidnappers at casino floors usually only seek to be paid the pending gambling debts and do not ask for huge ransoms. In addition, most often they hold their victims in hotel rooms.
According to Mr. Coles, both casinos and hotels must ensure the safety of their customers without this affecting their comfort. Gambling customers and hotel guests are in most cases unaware of whether the venue they are at has insurance cover in place. Yet, Mr. Coles explained that most large chains usually discuss the issue with each other and opt for insurance policies only after the have liaised with other hotel and casino operators.
The insurance expert also commented on Hong Kong being compared to Venezuela due to the recent high-profile abductions and the huge ransoms being demanded. A few months ago, Queenie Rosita Law, heiress to a popular clothing chain, was kidnapped and a HK$28-million ransom was demanded for her.
Mr. Coles noted that Hong Kong was in fact much safer than Venezuela, which could be considered one of the world’s most dangerous spots with high-profile kidnappings occurring regularly.
