Gaming Boss To Cut Link To Pbl Partner

The Age

Friday March 17, 2006

By COLIN KRUGER and LISA MURRAY, SYDNEY

MACAU'S controversial casino king, Stanley Ho, is expected to step down as chairman of Melco International, the Asian venture partner of the Packers' Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd.

Melco officials made no comment yesterday, but confirmed it would make an announcement soon.

Mr Ho's alleged Triad links have troubled gambling regulators around the world. His standing down is expected to speed up probity checks by Victorian regulators into the PBL-Melco venture, which began two years ago.

The buying of a sublicence from Wynn Resorts this month for $US900 million gave PBL and Melco control of their own destiny in Macau but may also have been the first signal that more space was needed between the partners and Mr Ho.

PBL and Melco will now own and operate the casinos they are building in Macau rather than relying on Mr Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau to run the casinos under its licence. SJM relinquished its rights in relation to the casinos despite it standing to lose $200-$300 million in annual fees.

The executive commissioner of the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation, Peter Cohen, said: "We are currently assessing the business arrangements between PBL and its partners in Macau and we will advise PBL when we have completed our investigations. If any person who has a business association with PBL is of concern we need PBL to fix that problem, but I'm not saying there is one."

If the commission were to find Mr Ho an unsuitable associate, PBL would have to severe its ties with him or face losing its licences in Victoria and Western Australia.

While the latest news might allay concerns over Mr Ho's association with PBL, it might not remove him from the VCGR's radar. His son Lawrence, the Melco chief executive and largest shareholder, may provide enough of a link to worry the commission. Stanley Ho owns more than 11 per cent of Melco.

New Jersey and Nevada gaming officials are looking into links between Pansy Ho and her father after her company signed a joint venture agreement with casino operator MGM Mirage.

© 2006 The Age

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