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The casino company said in a filing Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission asked two years ago for records relating to compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Las Vegas Sands said that after it got the S.E.C. subpoena on Feb. 9, 2011, the audit committee of the board of directors opened an investigation.

In its annual report, filed Friday, the company said its audit committee had "reached certain preliminary findings, including that there were likely violations of the books and records and internal controls provisions" of the antibribery law.

Las Vegas Sands said that based on information from the audit committee and its lawyers, it expected that the findings would not have a material financial impact or force restatement of past financial results.

The company said that it had improved its record-keeping and internal controls practices in recent years, and added that its investigation was continuing.

The Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous source, reported Saturday that the findings were related to business deals in China led by executives no longer with the company.

The company said in the annual report that it believed the S.E.C. investigation stemmed from a lawsuit filed in 2010 in Nevada by Steven C. Jacobs, the former chief executive of its Chinese subsidiary, who is seeking unspecified damages. Las Vegas Sands said in the filing that it could not predict the outcome of the still-pending case but would defend itself vigorously.

The Journal reported that Nevada gambling regulators are also investigating the matter, citing people familiar with the case.

In recent years, Las Vegas Sands has expanded aggressively in Asia, building a business in the Chinese district of Macao.

The company reported in January that fourth-quarter net income jumped more than 35 percent, helped greatly by booming business in Macao, the only place in China with legal gambling and a haven for high rollers. Revenue in the company's Chinese subsidiary soared 48 percent higher than a year earlier.

Mr. Adelson became the biggest single donor in political history during the 2012 presidential election, supporting eight Republican candidates through "super PACs." By some estimates worth as much as $22 billion, he presides over a global empire of casinos, hotels and convention centers whose centerpiece is the Venetian in Las Vegas.