Saipan casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings had a thoroughly positive 2016 but is closing out the year on a decidedly pessimistic note.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Imperial Pacific had frozen a planned bond offering intended to help finance the construction of its permanent Saipan resort casino. Up till now, the company has been making do with Best Sunshine Live, a temporary yet wildly successful ‘training’ casino in a local shopping mall.

Investors reportedly sought a higher yield than the 10-11% Imperial Pacific had been offering, based on investors’ concerns that the property’s future was vulnerable to Saipan regulators changing local gaming laws.

Imperial Pacific planned to open the first phase of its permanent facility in time for the 2017 Chinese New Year celebrations, with subsequent phases to follow in the coming years. The total outlay for the project, which at its completion would boast 11 casinos and 20 six-star hotels, was tipped at over $7b. The scrapped bond offering was designed to raise up to $400m of this total.