Wynn Resorts is facing an “informal inquiry” by the US Securities and Exchange Commission into a donation made to the University of Macau. It comes hot the heels of a case brought by Kazuo Okada in which the 20% shareholder was suspicious of the very same donation. The SEC has asked Wynn preserves information relating to this and any other donation made by the company. This is in addition to information on Macau gaming licences or renewals. The good news is analysts don’t think any action will be taken against the firm. They become the latest company to have their operations in Macau poured over by US authorities – Las Vegas Sands being the other.
Macau’s casinos are likely to post a 28% rise in gross gaming industry revenue for the two months of the year. Harry Curtis, analyst at Nomura Securities, told Macau Business that figures after 12 days of the current month show an increase of 28 percentage point compared with the previous year. This is up from his previous estimate of 25%
Vice chairman of one of the enclave’s largest casino business firms wants the government to allow dealers from overseas to operate. Francis Lui, vice chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Group, wants the authorities to end a policy that only allows native dealers to operate. Lui told Macau Post the changes would allow local dealers to be promoted higher up the employment ladder. The enclave’s unemployment level currently sits at a very low 2.1% and with both gaming and non-gaming projects in the offing that figure will stay low and fuel the need for foreign workers.
