Note: This story has been updated to clarify the nature of Levy’s work for Wynn Resorts.
Facing scrutiny in the United States about its casino operations in Macau, Wynn Resorts Ltd. has bet on Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck to help its lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C.
The Nevada-based casino operator dispatched Brownstein to advocate for it on an unspecified “[f]oreign investment issue before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission,” according to lobbying registration paperwork the firm filed with Congress this week. The firm also does legal work for Wynn.
Brownstein shareholder Marc Lampkin and policy director Michael Levy are handling the account. Levy said he met with members of the congressional advisory panel last month about how Wynn addresses law enforcement issues in Macau, the former Portuguese colony that has developed into a gambling mecca after it became a special administrative region of China in 1999.
In June, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission heard testimony on U.S. casinos in Macau, which the congressional advisory panel’s chairman said has a “lax regulatory system for its casinos,” which aids money laundering and other criminal activities. The hearing came a month after Wynn disclosed in a quarterly Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the U.S. Justice Department had launched a criminal investigation into a $135 million donation the company made to the University of Macau Development Foundation. The probe is ongoing, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.
Macau last year had gambling revenue of $38 billion, more than six times the amount accrued in Las Vegas. Most of Wynn’s income now comes from the Chinese territory, making the company a “Chinese” business, according to its chief executive officer, Steve Wynn.
“American authorities at the state and federal level want to make sure that the three U.S.-based casino companies licensed to operate affiliate casinos in Macau do not get drawn into activities that would be considered illegal or improper in the United States,” commission chairman William Reinsch said at the hearing, according to a transcript [PDF].
But a Wynn representative didn’t testify at the hearing. Representatives of Las Vegas Sands Corp. and MGM Resorts International, U.S. companies that also have casinos in Macau, didn’t appear before the commission, either.
Levy said he explained Wynn’s Macau operations when he met with members of the commission, noting that the company has “very strong” anti-money laundering policies.
“It was a very cordial conversation,” he said.
With Brownstein, Wynn now has two firms registered to lobby for it in D.C., according to congressional records. The company paid Clark Hill $80,000 during the first three quarters for this year to advocate for it on “[i]nternational taxation and internet gambling issues,” lobbying filings show.
