Potential Benefits of the Marina Bay Sands Money Laundering Investigation for Resorts World Sentosa

According to Samuel Yin Shao Yang, an analyst at Maybank, Singapore's Resorts World Sentosa could notice a marked boost in the number of VIP customers visiting its casino floor as a result of the ongoing investigation into its domestic rival Marina Bay Sands' anti-money laundering methods.

This week, according to a report from Bloomberg, the U.S. Department of the Interior served a grand jury subpoena on the former compliance officer of Marina Bay Sands, demanding documents and other information regarding "money laundering facilitation" and other potential violations of internal financial rules and controls.

RELATED: AML Controls at Marina Bay Sands are under federal investigation

Additionally, the ex-head of compliance was asked to provide any records that would point to transgressions involving the usage of casino junket companies or third-party loans made possible by casino credit.

The Interior Department is investigating possible whistleblower retribution as well.

Las Vegas Sands, the parent corporation of Marina Bay Sands, was the subject of a Department of Justice investigation in 2010 in connection with a lawsuit brought by Steven Jacobs, the former CEO of Sands China, Las Vegas Sands' Macau subsidiary.

The other of Singapore's two integrated resorts, Resorts World Sentosa, enjoyed a large increase in its proportion of the local VIP market as a result of the previous case. Genting Group, a major gaming and hospitality company in Malaysia, is the owner of Resorts World Sentosa.

New VIP market share high

Resorts World Sentosa saw its VIP market share in Singapore hit a record high of 67% during the third quarter of 2010, that is to say, shortly after news of the DOJ investigation into Las Vegas Sands broke. For the next two quarters, this market share remained above 50%.

Since it first opened its doors in January 2010, the property's VIP market share has been 47% on average.

"We do not presume that either Marina Bay Sands, Sands China, or Las Vegas Sands was or is guilty or innocent of any allegations," wrote Yin in the most recent email. "What we learn is VIPs tend to avoid casinos which are under investigation, especially by the DOJ," he added.

The note continued that Resorts World Sentosa might benefit from a bigger share of the VIP volume after learning from earlier instances of comparable circumstances, and that all that is required of the property right now is to reopen.

Since April 7, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa have been closed in an effort to stop the coronavirus from spreading. When the properties will start operating again is still unknown. On June 2, nearly 40 business sectors were given permission to resume operations, however the Singapore Casino Regulatory Authority informed local media that the closure of the casinos will continue past June 1.