In Brief

Herbst announces COO will fill CEO's position

Herbst Gaming LLC Chief Operating Officer David R. Ross has been tapped to take over as chief executive officer once the company emerges from bankruptcy early next year.

In a recent regulatory filing, Herbst Gaming also named Ferenc Szony as president of the company, which was created by lenders following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Herbst Gaming Inc. in March 2009.

The company also announced a new board of directors. Besides Ross, the new board will include Don Kornstein, Thomas Benninger, Scott Henry and Michael Rumbolz.

Kornstein currently serves as a non-executive director on the board of Gala Coral Group, a gaming company based in the United Kingdom, while Benninger serves as a member of the board of Squaw Valley Ski Corp. and a director of the DAPER Investment Fund, a co-investment fund with the Stanford Management Co. for the benefit of the Stanford Athletic Department.

Henry served in senior executive roles at Las Vegas Sands Corp. from 2004-2009. Rumbolz is a managing director of Acme Gaming LLC, a consulting firm as well as an independent corporate strategy adviser to Global Cash Access, a provider of cash access products and services for the gaming industry.

MGM Resorts proposes sale of $500 million in notes

MGM Resorts International wants to sell $500 million of notes due in 2016 in a private placement.

In a brief statement Monday, the company said the proceeds would be used to pay off a portion of $1.2 billion in debt the company owes under its senior credit facility.

MGM Resorts has about $13 billion in long-term debt and company executives have said bringing down the figure is a primary concern of management.

The offering follows MGM Resorts' $845 million notes sale in March. The company said it will also use $511 million raised last week in a sale of common stock to repay debt.

WASHINGTON

U.S. banking regulators wade into mortgage mess

Federal banking regulators are examining whether mortgage companies cut corners on their own procedures when they moved to foreclose on people's homes, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday.

Preliminary results of the in-depth review into the practices of the nation's largest mortgage companies are expected to be released next month, Bernanke said in remarks to a housing-finance conference in Arlington, Va.

"We are looking intensively at the firms' policies, procedures and internal controls related to foreclosures and seeking to determine whether systematic weaknesses are leading to improper foreclosures," Bernanke said. "We take violation of proper procedures very seriously," he added.

The central bank's decision adds weight to federal and state investigations into whether banks used flawed documents to foreclose on homeowners.

Nightclub employees sue Wynn Resorts over tip pooling

Wynn Resorts is being sued by two of its nightclub employees who claim the resort's tip-pooling policy violates Wynn's collective bargaining agreement with the culinary and bartenders' unions. The federal lawsuit filed late Monday charges breach of written contract, and seeks an injunction and class action status.

Lawyers for plaintiffs Kevin Carter and Daniel Gerstel claim Wynn Resorts has been improperly sharing tips earned by culinary and bartenders' union members with management, in violation of the bargaining agreement. Management personnel are not classified as employees entitled to gratuity sharing under the agreement, the lawsuit claims.

Both Carter and Gerstel have been employees at both Tryst at Wynn Las Vegas and at XS at Wynn's sister property, Encore. Carter is a shop steward for Bartenders Union Local 216, while Gerstel is a shop steward for Culinary Union Local 226. Attorneys for the parties and Wynn resorts were not available for comment late Monday afternoon.

LV Sands announces deal to list hotels with operator

Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced a 10-year licensing agreement with IHG, operators of the InterContinental Hotels chain, to list The Venetian and Palazzo within the brand's portfolio.

The deal allows the Strip properties to maintain their separate identities, but they become part of the company's Priority Club network, which has a database of 52 million members, according to IHG.

Venetian and Palazzo guests will be able to earn points and redeem them for stays at any of IHG's 4,500 hotels worldwide. IHG's Priority Club Rewards and Ambassador members will be able to use their points for stays at both resorts.

Las Vegas Sands President Michael Leven said the agreement potentially opens The Venetian and Palazzo, which have a combined 7,000 rooms, to a new customer group.

IHG has 180 million annual guests worldwide.