Inquiry could lead Star Entertainment to make board changes, analysts say

Analysts believe that Star Entertainment Group could implement changes to its board in the way Crown Resorts did following investigation.

Australia.- New South Wales’ inquiry into The Star Entertainment Group could lead to changes at the board level, analysts believe. Centre for Public Integrity director Geoffrey Watson SC said their could be a major overhaul similar to that seen at Crown Resorts after its faced an inquiry last year.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a fund manager at a major Australian mutual fund said it was inevitable that some executives and directors would have to leave the company based on evidence already presented at the New South Wales Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) inquiry that showed The Star disguised gambling payments as hotel charges.

He said: “The CEO Matt Bekier has been there for a long time, and he’s probably getting towards the end of tenure anyway. Chairman John O’Neil is an interesting one because he was spruiking how The Star was squeaky clean. But it’s day one… what’s going to come out on day three or five?”

On the first day of the ILGA inquiry, Paulinka Dudek, deputy treasurer of the Star Group admitted that she misled National Australia Bank about use of a China UnionPay card at Star Entertainment venues.

Lennon Chang, a senior lecturer in criminology at Monash University who specialises in Greater China, said that The Star’s scheme provided a channel for moving large amounts of money from China to Australian real estate or other assets and bypassed China’s strict controls on how much money citizens could send.

A day after the public hearing started, Star Entertainment Group shares fell as much as 7 per cent.