The recent events surrounding Wynn Casinos and its now former director, Kazuo Okada, have almost been breath-taking in their family feud nature. Indeed in an article in the March 2, 2012 edition of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), entitled “The Family Feud That Could Cost Combatants Billions”, reporter John Bussey called it the “slug-it-out-divorce” by Steve Wynn from his former partner, Okada. Wynn provided the opening salvo in this battle of titans by summarily booting Okada off the Wynn Casino Board of Directors and “forcibly cashed out” his stake in the company, all for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

However, Okada appears to have fired back a FCPA-based salvo of his own. In the same edition of the WSJ, another article reported on Wynn Casinos and another potential FCPA violation. It involved a gift of $135 Million by Wynn Casinos to a foundation which supports the University of Macau. The article on this donation was entitled “Macau School Ties Roil Wynn Resorts” and was co-authored by Kate O’Keefe and Alexandra Berzon. They reported that Okada had gone to a Nevada state court to request an order that Wynn Casinos “give him access to documents tied to the donations.” One of the reasons Okada detailed in his court request was to determine if the gift by Wynn Casinos to the University of Macau was “an appropriate use of corporate funds.”

I would also ask whether the gift was proper under the FCPA. There is not much definitive guidance for charitable donations under the FCPA. I have summarized the available information as follows.