{"id":23952,"date":"2021-10-27T08:28:41","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T11:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=23952"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:24:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T17:24:51","slug":"crown-royal-commission-outcome-could-help-star-analysts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/crown-royal-commission-outcome-could-help-star-analysts-say","title":{"rendered":"Crown Royal Commission outcome could help Star, analysts say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Analysts at JP Morgan believe the Victoria Royal Commission’s decision to allow Crown Melbourne to keep its licence under stricter conditions could benefit The Star Entertainment as it also faces a licence review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- Victoria\u2019s Royal Commission has allowed Crown Resorts to keep its Melbourne licence<\/a> under strict new conditions with the appointment of a Special Manager. The decision’s been seen as a good sign for The Star Entertainment Group, which faces a review by the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) after media allegations of money laundering<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to analysts at JP Morgan, Star\u2019s misconduct was not “as bad as Crown’s, so it is unlikely it will face a negative outcome.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review, required by the Casino Control Law, will decide whether The Star Entertainment is working within the limits of consistency <\/strong>and if it is suitable to continue holding a casino licence. Public hearings will start in March 2022. Bell will share the results of the investigation with the New South Wales regulator by late June 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review was ordered after a joint report by three news outlets (The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes), implicated the firm in suspected money laundering, organised crime and fraud. They reported that between 2014 and 2021 the firm wooed high-rolling gamblers allegedly linked to criminal or foreign-influenced activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Star Entertainment Group<\/a>, however, has said the assertions were misleading and that it \u201cwill take the appropriate steps to address all allegations<\/strong> with relevant state and federal regulators and authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen O\u2019Bryan QC appointed as Crown Resorts Special Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Judge Raymond Finkelstein<\/strong>, who led the state of Victoria\u2019s inquiry into Crown, has appointed Stephen O\u2019Bryan QC<\/strong>, as Special Manager. He will have unprecedented powers to oversee Crown Resorts, veto decisions of the Board, and will have access to all areas of the casino and its books and records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finkelstein said he had taken the decision because he understood that if Crown Melbourne\u2019s licence was cancelled, it would hurt the Victorian economy. The proposal has been approved by the Victorian government<\/strong>, which said Crown\u2019s licence will be cancelled unless Crown Resorts can convince the regulator it has changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 33 recommendations were made by the Royal Commission<\/strong>, which recognised that Crown Resorts has started a significant reform programme<\/a>. The report suggested increasing the maximum possible penalty under the Casino Control Act 1991 from AU$1m to AU$100m to \u201cmake sure there are meaningful consequences for breaches of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said: \u201cCrown Resorts will work cooperatively and constructively with the Victorian Government <\/strong>in relation to the findings and recommendations of the Report and their response.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Analysts at JP Morgan believe the Victoria Royal Commission’s decision to allow Crown Melbourne to keep its licence under stricter conditions could benefit The Star Entertainment as it also faces a licence review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":16772,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Victoria Royal Commission has permitted Crown Melbourne to retain its casino licence under stringent new conditions, including the appointment of a Special Manager with unprecedented oversight powers and significantly increased potential penalties. This regulatory outcome is viewed by analysts, such as JP Morgan, as a positive precedent for The Star Entertainment Group, which is currently undergoing its own licence suitability review in New South Wales following allegations of money laundering and links to organised crime. The decision underscores a heightened regulatory environment across Australian gaming verticals, emphasizing robust governance frameworks and compliance adherence.","focusai_entities":"JP Morgan, Victoria Royal Commission, Crown Melbourne, The Star Entertainment Group, Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA), Bell, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, 60 Minutes, Stephen O\u2019Bryan QC, Judge Raymond Finkelstein, Victorian government, Crown Resorts","focusai_location":"Australia, Victoria, Melbourne, New South Wales","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on Star's Valuation?","query":"Given the precedent set by Crown's conditional licence retention, what specific financial and operational adjustments might The Star Entertainment Group need to implement, and how will these affect its market valuation and future GGR projections?"},{"label":"Special Manager Powers?","query":"What are the full implications of the Special Manager's 'unprecedented powers' on Crown Resorts' corporate governance structure, board autonomy, and operational decision-making, particularly concerning capital allocation and strategic initiatives?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,156,158],"tags":[14657,23871],"class_list":["post-23952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","tag-crown-resorts","tag-the-star-entertainment-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23952"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23984,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23952\/revisions\/23984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}