Genting Malaysa Bhd might be learning an important lesson the hard way: Hollywood protects its property. Disney and Fox are teaming up to countersue the casino operator over a failed theme park.

The Hollywood Reporter has the news on the January 22 counter-suit. Fox claims that the theme park they were partnered with Genting to build in Malaysia didn’t adhere to the “integrity of Fox’s intellectual property.” Now that it looks like the theme park won’t push through, Fox is claiming Genting is in breach of contract, and demanding $46 million in damages.

Genting had a deal with Fox to build a “Fox World” theme park nearby its own Resorts World property in Malaysia.

This fight sparked off in November 2018, when Genting sued Fox and Disney for $1.75 billion. The original suit alleges that Fox was slowing down the deal and eventually backed out of it completely. They put blame on Disney for souring the deal, because of the Mickey Mouse corporation’s upcoming $71.3 billion buyout of Fox, and their distaste for being associated with gambling operations. Fox defended themselves at the time by saying the allegations were “simply made up.”

The benefits of using Bitcoin SV (BSV) as a payment method for online gambling are numerous, but it can do more than just help with deposits and withdrawals. Through the BSV blockchain, operators can run what the industry calls provably fair games, creating more security and faith in the industry.

The faith that players have in online gambling is crucial. One of the most frequent questions I used to get, in my past customer service life, was how could we prove that the games were fair.

The truth is, all scrupulous online gaming operations get their random number generators tested at frequent intervals by licensed bodies to prove that they are fair. Any player who visits an online operators site will see a link to that license featured prominently. That’s not always enough to build confidence in a wary customer though.

People have a long memory, and it wasn’t that long ago that major sites like Ultimate Bet were caught in cheating scandals. A link to a license on a site is some proof of fairness, but to a conspiracy minded player, those can be mocked up.

According to a filing by Pansy Ho’s Shun Tak Holdings, the businesswoman has entered into an agreement with the Henry Fok Foundation that will see the creation of an alliance to oversee the future of SMH Holdings in Macau, as well as of its controlling shareholder, the privately-owned Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, SA (STDM). Ho is the daughter of Stanley Ho, a casino tycoon that founded both STDM and Hong Kong-listed SJM Holdings.

Between Ho and the foundation, they control a combined 53.012% of STDM’s issued shares. The Henry Fok Foundation owns 26.576% and Ho’s Shun Tak organization controls 15.781%. Other interests held by Ho control the remainder.

In turn, STDM controls 54.11% of SJM as stated in SJM’s 2018 interim annual report.

What wasn’t clear from the filing yesterday is how the alliance will operate. No information was given regarding whether or not the alliance will look to replace management personnel at either SJM or STDM, but did state that it would introduce a proposal to vote on the board of an SJM subsidiary that holds the group’s casino gaming license in Macau.

Imperial Pacific International (IPI), the company behind the Imperial Palace resort on Saipan, is back in the news and the revolving door on the top floor of the company continues to spin. It apparently cannot keep a good chairman on board, as it has been through more than a half dozen in less than two years. Now, in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company has announced that Cui Li Jie is stepping in to fill the role; for how long is anyone’s guess.

Cui is replacing Xia Yuki Yu, whose sudden resignation left the company without anyone at the helm. Cui has been an executive director for IPI since May of 2017. She reportedly has involvement in real estate and building material trading, as well as “experience in investment.” She is also the sole director of – as well as shareholder of – Inventive Star Lt., which owns over 90 billion shares in IPI.

It’s been a crazy ride for anyone willing to jump on the back of the IPI horse. Marco Teng stepped down as chairman of the company last August, after only being on the job for eight months, and was replaced by Henry Cheang. Cheang was the company’s CEO since January 2018, having replaced Mark Brown, and later was bumped up to chairman in August.

Cheang then stepped down after a brief stint in the role, only to have Brown return as the company’s “interim chairman.” Brown was then supplanted by Xia, who has now been replaced by Cui.

Imperial Pacific International (IPI), the company behind the Imperial Palace resort on Saipan, is back in the news and the revolving door on the top floor of the company continues to spin. It apparently cannot keep a good chairman on board, as it has been through more than a half dozen in less than two years. Now, in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company has announced that Cui Li Jie is stepping in to fill the role; for how long is anyone’s guess.

Cui is replacing Xia Yuki Yu, whose sudden resignation left the company without anyone at the helm. Cui has been an executive director for IPI since May of 2017. She reportedly has involvement in real estate and building material trading, as well as “experience in investment.” She is also the sole director of – as well as shareholder of – Inventive Star Lt., which owns over 90 billion shares in IPI.

It’s been a crazy ride for anyone willing to jump on the back of the IPI horse. Marco Teng stepped down as chairman of the company last August, after only being on the job for eight months, and was replaced by Henry Cheang. Cheang was the company’s CEO since January 2018, having replaced Mark Brown, and later was bumped up to chairman in August.

Cheang then stepped down after a brief stint in the role, only to have Brown return as the company’s “interim chairman.” Brown was then supplanted by Xia, who has now been replaced by Cui.

When Pennsylvania first agreed to allow sports gambling to come to the state, it announced licensing fees that were substantially higher than any other state. Operators would have to buy a $10-million license, as well as submit to a tax rate of 36%. Initially, the only sound in the licensing office came from the crickets in the corner. Slowly, however, operators began to relent and now the market is beginning to flourish. In just a short time, the sports gambling market in the state has already turned a nice profit for both the state and the operators.

In December, sportsbooks collected $16 million in wagers and $2 million in handle. Not bad for an industry that only had three retail sportsbooks, two of which didn’t even get going until the middle of the month. Hollywood, SugarHouse and Rivers were the only three at the time, but others, such as Parx and Kambi, joined the space this year.

Pennsylvania has always levied a higher tax rate on gambling operations. When lawmakers approved slot machines in 2004, operators were forced to agree to give up 54% of their revenue in taxes. Many expected the fees to be too high, leading to the demise of the industry in the state.

Those individuals could not have been more wrong. Pennsylvania is now the second-largest casino market in the U.S., immediately following Nevada.

According to a prediction by the Hong Kong-based Asian Racing Federation (ARF), black market gambling in Australia is running rampant. The group prepared a report on illegal gambling in Australia, as well as New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea and Singapore, and asserts that the underground gambling market will reach AU$2 billion (US$1.419 billion) by next year.

The Australian Financial Review, which cited the findings, states that the country loses over $380 million ($269.67 million) in betting tax revenue each year. The ARF taskforce that published the report states that the link between black market gambling and money laundering and organized crime remains too strong to break.

Australia’s Treasury, as well as the Black Economy Taskforce (BET), are now reviewing the report in order to understand the findings and introduce enhancements and new strategies that can identify and eliminate illegal gambling.

The findings show that 6% of the entire gambling market in Australia comes through illegal wagers. The country’s government made attempts at controlling the illegal market in 2017 through a series of new legislative amendments. Those amendments were designed to close loopholes that had been exploited by offshore gambling operators, as well as to introduce a ban on online casino games.

According to a prediction by the Hong Kong-based Asian Racing Federation (ARF), black market gambling in Australia is running rampant. The group prepared a report on illegal gambling in Australia, as well as New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea and Singapore, and asserts that the underground gambling market will reach AU$2 billion (US$1.419 billion) by next year.

The Australian Financial Review, which cited the findings, states that the country loses over $380 million ($269.67 million) in betting tax revenue each year. The ARF taskforce that published the report states that the link between black market gambling and money laundering and organized crime remains too strong to break.

Australia’s Treasury, as well as the Black Economy Taskforce (BET), are now reviewing the report in order to understand the findings and introduce enhancements and new strategies that can identify and eliminate illegal gambling.

The findings show that 6% of the entire gambling market in Australia comes through illegal wagers. The country’s government made attempts at controlling the illegal market in 2017 through a series of new legislative amendments. Those amendments were designed to close loopholes that had been exploited by offshore gambling operators, as well as to introduce a ban on online casino games.

If 2018 was a good year for Macau tourism, 2019 is expected to be even better. Last year, the city received 35.8 million tourists, an increase of 9.8% over 2017. This year, the number could jump to more than 38 million, according to the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.

Fernandes anticipates a climb in tourism of between 5-6% this year. She made her prediction while speaking to reporters during a press conference yesterday, adding that the number will increase by 8-9% during the Chinese New Year period. The Chinese New Year is February 5 and the jump is expected, in part, due to the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB) last October.

Fernandes stated, “The HKZMB is very significant. Our data shows that in a very short period [since the opening on October 24 until the end of 2018] over 1 million visitors entered Macau via the Bridge.”  She also stated that the bridge has become the second largest port of entry since opening.

She further pointed out, “We are going to have some research on visitor behavior to formulate promotion strategies [for the Bridge]. We will be working on the possibility to make the bridge more accessible, especially in what concerns the Hong Kong airport to make it easier [to use] by the visitors.”

Las Vegas Sands Corp. reported a net loss of $40 million for the fourth quarter of last year, as a result of a one-time income tax expense of $727 million.

The quarterly loss reversed the gains from the fourth quarter of 2017, when the company posted a net income of $1.36 billion.

The nonrecurring tax payment led to a reduced net profit for the whole of 2018, of $2.95 billion, 9.6% lower than the previous year’s net profit of $3.26 billion.

The $727-million tax expense was due to the company adopting as of January 1, 2018 the “recently issued guidance by the Internal Revenue Service related to the international provision of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act… Our effective income tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2018 would have been 7.4% without the discrete expense associated with the Act.”