By Eduardo Baptista

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – According to Bernstein brokerage firm, Macau’s Gaming Regulator has directed junket operators operating in Macau’s biggest gambling hub to cease offering customers credit.

The Macau Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau has ordered operators who take large-spending customers from China to Macau casino VIP rooms, frequently with loans, to cease offering credit. Bernstein stated this in a Monday research note, citing reliable sources.

Bernstein stated in the note that Wynn and other people are closing down junket operations.

Bloomberg News, which cited unidentified sources on Tuesday, reported that Wynn would and Melco close their junkets rooms before Dec. 20 or 21.

The Macau gaming regulator didn’t respond to our request for comment.

Casino operators Wynn Macau (OTC :), Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment and SJM Holdings were also not available for comment. Melco International Development was also unavailable to Reuters’ requests.

It comes just days after Suncity, the troubled junket firm, shut down all its VIP gaming rooms in Macau following an arrest of Alvin Chau (chief executive), for alleged cross-border gambling links.

The authorities in China see the junkets involved in siphoning off billions of dollars overseas. It is a problem for a country which has had tight controls on capital flows.

Carlos Lobo from Macau, is a gaming consultant. He said that if Macau made junkets cease offering credit to clients it would signal the end for an era.

He said that if this was true, junkets would have to be able to act as travel agencies by receiving fees to bring rich clients to casinos operators rather than commissions from VIP gaming room owners, which had been their main business model for many years.