{"id":187213,"date":"2021-09-28T13:42:54","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T20:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=187213"},"modified":"2021-09-28T14:04:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T21:04:58","slug":"macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau Operators Stare Down Credit Risk Amid Government Proposals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The six Macau concessionaires, including Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), could contend with elevated credit risk as authorities there pursue an agenda that could lead to increased oversight of the gaming industry.<\/p>\n

\"Macau
Part of the Cotai Strip in Macau. Moody’s says operators there could face credit risks. (Image: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moody’s Investors Service says changes to the special administrative region’s (SAR) casino guidelines being discussed in an ongoing consultation period could be \u201ccredit negative\u201d for operators in the world’s largest gaming hub.<\/p>\n

Because the consultation document highlights the government\u2019s intention to strengthen its regulatory scrutiny and supervision over the gaming sector,\u201d said the research firm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Moody’s has a Baa3 rating on Las Vegas Sands, or one notch above junk territory. The ratings agency grades SJM Holdings Limited Ba1, Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) Ba2, and Wynn and MGM China parent MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) Ba3. The credit grader has \u201cnegative\u201d outlooks on all of those issuers.<\/p>\n

Trying Environment for Macau Operators<\/h2>\n

Last week, shares of all six Macau concessionaires<\/a> stumbled. That’s as local authorities launched a consultation period that includes proposals such as increased government equity ownership, restrictions on how operators spend capital, including dividend payments, and the possibility of upfront payments required to retain licenses.<\/p>\n

\n

Moody’s analysts say they expect the six concessionaires will be permitted to continue operating in Macau beyond the June 2022 expiry of gaming permits. But the local government could require an unknown amount of upfront capital to extend those licenses. Additionally, there’s concern authorities could trim the license period to 10 years from 20 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

There’s \u201ca chance that the Macau government may require a one-off lump-sum payment,\u201d adds Moody’s, while noting when those payments would be required and at what size are unknown.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarding potential renewal risk, Moody’s points to the three US-based Macau operators — LVS, MGM, and Wynn — citing \u201cuncontrollable geopolitical issues.\u201d However, the research firm doesn’t say that risk is alarmingly high, and some executives remain optimistic<\/a> that their companies will continue doing business in the SAR.<\/p>\n

No Downgrades…Yet<\/h2>\n

In assessing how a stricter regulatory environment could affect Macau operators, Moody’s didn’t go so far as to downgrade credit ratings on any of those companies.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there’s recent evidence confirming capital markets are open to these casino operators. For example, Sands China — the Macau arm of LVS — priced $1.95 billion of senior unsecured notes earlier this month. That was followed by Wynn Macau borrowing $1.5 billion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite the specter of increasing regulatory pressure, some investors are bullish<\/a> on LVS and Wynn, and betting that the operators of a combined seven Macau integrated resorts are value plays on a yet-to-materialize rebound in the casino center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The six Macau concessionaires, including Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), could contend with elevated credit risk as authorities there pursue an agenda that could lead to increased oversight of the gaming industry. Moody’s Investors Service says changes to the special administrative region’s (SAR) casino guidelines being discussed in an ongoing consultation period […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":187214,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacau Operators Could Face Credit Risks Amid Regulatory Crackdown<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Macau operators could face credit issues if regulatory headwinds persist.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macau Operators Could Face Credit Risks Amid Regulatory Crackdown\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Macau operators could face credit issues if regulatory headwinds persist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T20:42:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T21:04:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Operators Could Face Credit Risks Amid Regulatory Crackdown\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-28T20:42:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-28T21:04:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Macau operators could face credit issues if regulatory headwinds persist.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Part of the Cotai Strip in Macau. Moody's says operators there could face credit risks. (Image: YouTube)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Macau Operators Stare Down Credit Risk Amid Government Proposals\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Macau Operators Could Face Credit Risks Amid Regulatory Crackdown","description":"Macau operators could face credit issues if regulatory headwinds persist.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Macau Operators Could Face Credit Risks Amid Regulatory Crackdown","og_description":"Macau operators could face credit issues if regulatory headwinds persist.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-09-28T20:42:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-28T21:04:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/","name":"Macau Operators Could Face Credit Risks Amid Regulatory Crackdown","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-28T20:42:54+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-28T21:04:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"Macau operators could face credit issues if regulatory headwinds persist.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/cotai.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Part of the Cotai Strip in Macau. Moody's says operators there could face credit risks. (Image: YouTube)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-operators-could-face-credit-risks-amid-regulatory-crackdown\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Macau Operators Stare Down Credit Risk Amid Government Proposals"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187213"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}