THE MACAU METRO MONITOR, JUNE 7, 2013

LAS VEGAS SANDS PROBE: GRAND JURY HEARS WITNESSES WSJ

As previously reported, the government is looking into whether Las Vegas Sands employees should have alerted government authorities to potentially suspicious transactions by two high-rollers: China-born Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon and former Fry's Electronics Inc. executive Ausuf Umar Siddiqui.

The company disclosed last year that it had received federal subpoenas to produce documents. The Huffington Post on Wednesday reported that a grand jury was involved in the investigation.

The people familiar with the matter said the grand jury began hearing witness testimony within the past few weeks. The company has been in discussions with the Justice Department over the past year regarding a possible settlement, people familiar with the matter said.

MACAU LEGEND PLANS HONG KONG IPO WSJ

Macau Legend Development Ltd. plans to raise up to US$788 million in an initial public offering in Hong Kong.  The company, controlled by Macau tycoon David Chow Kam Fai, plans to sell 2.05 billion shares in a range of 2.30 to 2.98 Hong Kong dollars (30 to 38 U.S. cents) each and list on June 27. It will start taking orders from investors on Friday.

Cornerstone investor Dynam Hong Kong Co. Ltd. is buying US$35 million worth of the shares and has agreed to hold them for six months.

Macau Legend is looking to refurbish and expand the 133,038 square-meter Macau Fisherman's Wharf. The redevelopment is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015, at which point Macau Legend will have 1,200 hotel rooms.

VENETIAN SENDS OUT TERM SHEETS FOR US$2.25 BLN LOAN Reuters

Venetian has sent out term sheets to relationship banks for an up to US$2.25 billion six-year financing, sources said.

Venetian was talking about a potential refinancing of its US$3.7 billion loan from September 2011.  Sources said the new deal is for refinancing and a new development plot in Macau.

The financing is split into an up to US$1.5 billion revolving credit and an up to US$750 million term loan.  The facility can be funded in HK$, MOP or US$. The average life is around five years.

DRAFT TAIWAN CASINO BILL DELAYED Macau Business

According to Gambling Compliance, legislative debate on Taiwan’s draft casino law is likely to be pushed back to August at the earliest.  The draft casino bill, ready since last month and which oversees the development of casinos on outlying islands in the Taiwan Strait, has yet to be put up for debate.


Julia Lee, vice president of Taiwan development for Weidner Resorts, said debate is likely to take place in August, citing legislative sources close to the process.

Last week, three ruling Kuomintang legislators submitted a rival bill.  It proposes the creation of foreign-passport permit based casinos in “special economic zones” located in central Taiwan.

JAPAN PARTY BREAKS RANKS TO SUBMIT CASINO BILL ON OWN Reuters 

A small Japanese party plans to submit a bill legalising casinos to parliament on Friday, breaking ranks with a cross-party group that wants to delay such a move until after elections.

The move by the Japan Restoration Party (JRP) threatens to complicate efforts by the cross-party lobby, which had set its timetable in part to avoid making the controversial issue of casinos a focal point ahead of upper house elections in July.

The JRP, which has 16 lawmakers in the 140-member lobby, is keen to take the initiative on the issue in the run-up to the election, according to one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the bill's submission.