Inside Asian Gaming

June 2009 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 7 T he 19th century German general Helmuth von Moltke once remarked that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. It might equally be said that no business plan survives contact with lawyers. The board of the casino developer and operator MGM MIRAGE has some grounds for holding the latter view following a report compiled by state attorneys in New Jersey effectively asking the company to choose between its Atlantic City casino operation and its 50:50 partnership with Pansy Ho in the US$1.25 billion MGM Grand Macau resort. The issue has come about because of the well-established regulatory principle that a casino licensing authority has the right to scrutinise any external deal done by one of its concession holders. MGM MIRAGE said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that NewJersey’sDivisionofGamingEnforcement (NJDGE) had described its joint venture partner in Macau as “unsuitable” in the New Jersey context, though the company did not Lion Taming New Jersey threatens to cage MGM MIRAGE’s Macau casino deal Cover Story Pansy Ho MGM Grand Macau