Crown Casino Vision Statement
Crown Resorts responded with a short statement saying: “Crown does not comment on its business operations with particular individuals or businesses. Particularly through casino junkets. Budget delivers confidence boost as Labor presents alternative vision. Crown Casino has been the subject of a Channel Nine investigation. Crown issued a statement on Monday.
Crown Resorts was arrogant towards regulatory compliance and didn't properly act on money laundering red flags, an inquiry into the company suitability to run a new $2.2 billion Sydney casino has heard. The Barangaroo premises, slated to open in mid December, is under a massive cloud amid the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority probe. The regulator is reportedly set to meet with Crown on November 18 to discuss whether to push back, or put conditions on, the casino's opening. Lawyers assisting the inquiry have argued Crown is not fit to hold the Barangaroo licence due to its poor culture, lack of risk management procedures and links to dodgy junket operators. In concluding her final submissions on Monday, counsel assisting Naomi Sharp said evidence across the hearings had shown Crown had an 'arrogant indifference' to regulatory compliance. '(There is a) culture of denial and an unwillingness to examine past failings. And ... a culture which has prioritised the pursuit of profit above all else,' she said. Counsel assisting Scott Aspinall said transactions uncovered during the hearings showed Crown was either ignorant or apathetic about the money laundering risks involving two subsidiary companies. 'It's open for you to find that money laundering did occur,' he told inquiry commissioner Patricia Bergin. He said money was moved through companies Southbank and Riverbank from 2014-17 by 'smurfing', a process of splitting up money in smaller deposits to avoid detection. There were also examples cash was deposited anonymously to those companies, he said. ANZ in 2014 raised 'red flags' with Crown about Southbank and Riverbank and eventually shut down their accounts with the bank. Mr Aspinall said Crown failed to properly investigate why, and the problems persisted for years. The lawyer representing Crown, Neil Young, is set to address the allegations in his closing submissions on November 16. Mr Young said CCTV vision aired at the inquiry showing a bag full of cash being unloaded at one of Crown's high-roller rooms in Melbourne was not definitive proof of money laundering. But he did concede it amounted to a 'suspicious matter'. 'We will also explain in our submissions that Crown has taken steps to prevent such events ever recurring,' he said. Many of Crown's cultural problems stem from the 'dubious tone' set by former executive chairman and major shareholder, James Packer, the inquiry has previously heard. Lawyers representing Mr Packer's company Consolidated Press Holdings, which holds a 36.8 per cent stake in Crown, will address the inquiry on Wednesday. Commissioner Bergin, who is expected to produce a final report by February, may recommend the licence agreement for the new casino be terminated, suspended, or have new conditions added. Australian Associated PressCounsel assisting the NSW inquiry into the suitability of Crown Resorts to operate Sydney’s new Barangaroo casino summed up this week by telling the commissioner that Crown was 'not a suitable person to continue to give effect to the licence, and that Crown Resorts is not a suitable person to be a close associate of the licensee'.
Adam Bell SC reached the conclusion after considering the deleterious impact on the good governance of Crown Resorts caused by its dominant shareholder [James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings] and, ultimately, Packer.
He reminded the inquiry that protection of the public interest was a key objective of the NSW Casino Control Act.
Crown Resorts' plans to open its new $2.2 billion casino in Sydney next month have been crushed after the NSW gaming regulator found allowing gambling there would pose 'unacceptable risks'. Crown said in a statement to the ASX that AUSTRAC had identified potential non-compliance with the laws including 'concerns in relation to ongoing customer due diligence, and adopting, maintaining and complying with an anti-money laundering/counterterrorism financing program'.
The Barangaroo casino is yet to open, but Crown already operates two other Australian casinos – one in Melbourne and one in Perth – and one in London.
The Melbourne casino has been the centre of multiple whistle-blower and other allegations connected with tampering with gambling machines, associations with criminal identities, and the arrest of 19 Crown staff in China in 2016.
The Sydney inquiry was initiated after the Nine network and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald published allegations about money laundering and links with criminals.
A tale of two cities
The Melbourne regulator, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, acted more quietly, initiating a still-uncompleted inquiry into the arrest of Crown staff in China in 2017, and putting its inquiry into the money laundering allegations on hold until it had seen the outcome of the NSW inquiry.
Belatedly, last month, a full eight months after the NSW hearings began, it issued Crown with a “show cause” notice relating to money laundering controls.
The state government had asked it to act as “a matter of priority” in mid-2019.
In 2017, Victoria’s auditor-general identified serious issues relating to the VCGLR’s oversight of Crown.
It highlighted a “lack of leadership”, the second-lowest staff satisfaction levels in the Victorian public sector, a lack of a “coherent organisation-wide approach to casino supervision”, and insufficient attention to key areas of risk in the casino’s operations, including money laundering.
In its five-yearly review of Crown’s licence in 2018, the VCGLR identified some concerns.
Crown Casino Vision Statement Login
The concerns involved compliance with money laundering rules, the lack of engagement of independent directors with an oversight of the Melbourne casino, an uninspiring adoption of the responsible gambling rules, and a less-than-complete honouring of requests for self-exclusion.
It nevertheless concluded that it was in the public interest for Crown to maintain its licence.
Fines rather than sanctions
Fines have been the VCGLR's preferred means of dealing with breaches of licence conditions.
In 2018, it fined Crown A$300,000 for gambling machine tampering, and $25,000 in 2018 for a breach of junket rules.
It said it believed fines were enough in the light of Crown’s 'past compliance history and general and specific deterrence, balanced against the level of cooperation, remorse, contrition and corrective action taken by Crown'.
Yet the NSW inquiry has heard evidence from James Packer and the company’s directors and management pointing to multiple continued failures in all these categories, in Melbourne.
The NSW premier has signalled concern about the casino’s planned opening in December, given that inquiry is not due to report until February.
West Australia’s regulator found no issues with Crown Burswood in its most recent (2018-19) annual report, but says it is monitoring the NSW inquiry.
Too big to touch?
It might be that Crown has become too big to regulate, at least in Victoria.
For some reason, the company has had enormous success with deflecting criticism. Along with other gambling operators, it has recruited powerful political figures from both major parties to assist it, and is a major political donor.
Crown Casino Vision Statement Example
There was ample evidence of the problems in Victoria well before the NSW inquiry identified them.
Read more: The Crown allegations show the repeated failures of our gambling regulators
The Victorian regulator’s slow and overly respectful approach might be because it felt Crown was too important to be held to account, or had too many political connections, or was too important as an employer or contributor to government revenue.
Or it might be because, as the auditor suggested, it has problems with staff.
But if we are to have any faith in Victoria’s ability to regulate gambling and crime, it’ll need to do more. NSW is showing how.
Read more: Gaming the board: Crown Resorts shows you just can't bet on 'independent' directors
This article originally appeared on The Conversation.