New Jersey gaming regulators have advised that MGM Mirage should be “directed to disengage” from its Macao joint venture partner, the daughter of gambling tycoon Stanley Ho, a filing by the casino giant says.

The recommendation by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is the first by a US regulator to go against Pansy Ho, who has a 50 per cent stake in the $1.25bn MGM Grand Macau. The casino opened in Macao, the Chinese special administrative region, in December 2007 and has been struggling financially.