Las Vegas Sands will pay a settlement charge of $9 million in order to clear the corruption case over operations in China. SEC's accusations concentrated mainly on the gambling giant's patronage of a basketball team in China, a ferry agreement in Macau and the company's plans to open a business plant in Beijing.

The casino company transmitted over $62 million to a Chinese consultant without proper authorization or documents backing the transfer, leading to SEC's investigation in defiance with the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The settlement also urges the company to appoint an independent consultant to watch closely its business activities.

In 2010, Steve Jacobs, a former executive of Sands's Chinese operations, alleged the company for a wrongful termination. He claimed that he was dismissed for attempting to stop corrupt business activities in Macau. His allegation set the ground for SEC's investigation whether the casino hub had violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that prevents firms from making personal payments for foreign government officials.

However, Sands denied the accusation saying that Jacob was terminated for genuine reasons. According to SEC, the company has disrupted the country's law, which urges firms to keep proper accounting controls. SEC said that Sands neither confessed nor repudiated the charge.

William Weidner, a previous president of Sands, told THE WALL STREET JOURNAL that he is not involved in any wrongdoings and that he did not supervise lawyers and accountants who controlled payments in the deals. The agency also accused Sands of using a foreign consultant to purchase a property to form a business center in Beijing.

REVIEW-JOURNAL quoted Andrew Ceresney, director of Enforcement Division at SEC, who said that public firms must have proper accounting controls to confirm that expenditures are paid for bone fide services. Sheldon Adelson, chief executive officer of Las Vegas, "We are committed to having a world-class compliance program that builds on the strong policies we already have in place."

According to an analyst at Morgan Stanley, this settlement deal with a fairly small price must be viewed optimistically by shareholders. The report by Morgan Stanley pointed out that most FCPA settlements have ended with a penalty ranging from $10 million to $20 million and in some cases, serious actions have resulted in higher fines.

The analysts surveyed by Zacks Research set a consensus objective price of $50.384 on the stocks of Las Vegas Sands. In addition, analysts covering Las Vegas Sands' shares estimate quarterly earnings to be $0.61 per share, according to BUSINESS STANDARD TRIBUNE. The firm reported earnings of $0.62 per share for the period that ended December 31, 2015.

The settlement deal ended six-year of SEC investigation, which discovered no proof of bribery on behalf of the company. Las Vegas is pleased to have ended the investigation.