Big LV firms certify numbers

Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

Big Las Vegas-based companies including MGM MIRAGE, Venetian owner Las Vegas Sands and Harrah's Entertainment on Tuesday filed certifications of their latest financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

MGM MIRAGE's Chief Executive Officer Terry Lanni and Chief Financial Officer James Murren each signed documents attesting to the accuracy and completeness of their financial reports. Harrah's Chief Executive Officer Philip Satre and Chief Financial Officer Charles Atwood also signed documents. Sheldon Adelson and Harry Miltenberger signed for The Venetian.

More than 900 of the largest SEC-registered companies are required to submit sworn statements to the regulatory agency as part of a push by the Bush administration to promote and enforce corporate responsibility. The effort is aimed at shoring up investor trust.

Statements from Park Place Entertainment Corp. and Mandalay Resort Group, the other two gaming companies on the SEC list, had not yet been posted on the agency's website as of this morning. Park Place, along with most of the other companies on the list, is expected to file in time to meet a deadline today. Other companies have later deadlines that coincide with the release of upcoming financial statements. Mandalay is expected to file by Sept. 16.

The casino industry stands relatively far apart from fears of financial manipulation because of a decades-long history of regulatory oversight aimed at making sure state governments receive taxes due on gambling revenues, Wall Street analysts and other industry observers have said.

Nevada Power Co. owner Sierra Pacific Resources of Reno, and Southwest Gas Corp. and Sierra Health Services Inc. of Las Vegas, also among Nevada's largest employers, filed similar documents with the SEC Tuesday.

Southwest Gas CEO Michael Maffie and CFO George Biehl signed statements.

"Southwest Gas has long taken a very disciplined approach to the financial reporting process, which we believe results in fair, accurate and complete SEC filings," Maffie said in a statement.