Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming April 2016 30 Hardly a week seems to go by without lawyers working for Las Vegas Sands appearing in court. The company’s biggest legal battle to date is scheduled to begin this summer. In June a Nevada court will hear claims by former Sands China CEO Steve Jacobs that he was fired in 2010 for refusing to commit acts that would violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Exactly five years ago we looked at the background to Jacob’s lawsuit and its implications. Given the fireworks we could see in the coming months we thought it was well worth another look. W hen litigation and/or criminal investigations become bigger news than a company’s core business activity, a significant amount of pressure is placed on the people at the top. Tony Hayward resigned as chief executive of the oil company BP in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico crude spill. Between the time of the accident (claiming 11 lives and blighting hundreds of coastal communities on 20th April last year) and 14th June 2010, the company’s share price almost halved, wiping £50 billion (US$81 billion) off its market capitalisation. In Japan, Masataka Shimizu, the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco)—the company that brought us the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe—was still clinging to his job at the time Inside Asian Gaming went to press. But between the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and accompanying tsunami—damaging the coolant supply to the nuclear reactors—on 11th March and the end of that month, Tepco’s share price fell by Blast from the Past April 2011 Blow Out Averted April 2011 Sheldon Adelson —“just cause” Steve Jacobs —claiming wrongful termination