{"id":28891,"date":"2022-04-12T08:26:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T11:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=28891"},"modified":"2026-04-23T09:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:41:21","slug":"nsw-regulator-under-scrutiny-for-lack-of-action-against-the-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/nsw-regulator-under-scrutiny-for-lack-of-action-against-the-star","title":{"rendered":"NSW regulator under scrutiny for lack of action against The Star"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An investigation has revealed that since 2016, Star Entertainment Group was fined only three times for an amount less than AU$200,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australia.- A report by The Australian Financial Review has revealed that\u00a0<strong>The Star Entertainment Group has faced 16 disciplinary actions<\/strong>\u00a0from New South Wales&#8217; Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) since 2016 but only three of these led to fines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The casino operator faced three\u00a0fines together totalling AU$199,800. One of the fines was for <strong>AU$90,000\u00a0<\/strong>and was imposed in 2020 for allowing three underage individuals to enter a casino. Two of the disciplinary measures resulted in &#8220;letters of censure&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview with the Financial Review, an ILGA spokesperson said that<strong>\u00a0a new regulator is on the way\u00a0<\/strong>that will be able to more effectively address any emerging threats in the casino industry, especially &#8220;involving money laundering and other related threats.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Star Sydney public hearings extended to August 31<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The public hearings into\u00a0<strong>The Star Sydney<\/strong>\u00a0will continue until August 31 after the New South Wales regulator, the ILGA, approved Adam Bell SC\u2019s request for an extension. Bell was originally due to share\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/ilga-public-hearings-into-the-star-sydney-to-start-next-week\" target=\"_blank\">his inquiry\u2019s results<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0<strong>June.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the regulator, Bell asked for more time \u201cto undertake further lines of inquiry to fully discharge his duties according to the Terms of Reference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The review will define<strong>&nbsp;if The Star is suitable to continue holding a casino licence in Sydney<\/strong>. It will also examine the presence and detection of illegal and unwanted activities and individuals in the casino and the management and operation of The Star\u2019s bank accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week,&nbsp;<strong>Oliver White, Star Entertainment\u2019s in-house lawyer<\/strong>&nbsp;was questioned about the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/star-lawyer-believed-use-of-china-unionpay-debit-cards-was-legal\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">legality of Star Entertainment accepting China UnionPay cards<\/a>. White told the inquiry that he knew that China UnionPay cards could not be used for gambling purposes. However, he said he believed it was legal to use the hotel\u2019s point of sale machines to swipe the cards. Once the funds were cleared, they were diverted to gaming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An investigation has revealed that since 2016, Star Entertainment Group was fined only three times for an amount less than AU$200,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"An investigation by The Australian Financial Review has revealed that Star Entertainment Group faced 16 disciplinary actions from ILGA since 2016, resulting in only three fines totaling less than AU$200,000. The ongoing Adam Bell SC inquiry into The Star Sydney's suitability for its casino license has been extended, focusing on issues like underage gambling, money laundering, and the illicit use of China UnionPay cards for gaming.","focusai_entities":"Star Entertainment Group, The Australian Financial Review, New South Wales\u2019 Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, ILGA, Adam Bell SC, Oliver White, China UnionPay","focusai_location":"Australia, New South Wales, Sydney","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":"ILGA Enforcement Efficacy","query":"What specific changes to ILGA's enforcement powers or governance frameworks are anticipated to address the historical leniency in disciplinary actions against major casino operators?"},{"label":"License Suitability Impact","query":"Beyond the Star Entertainment Group, what are the broader implications for other licensed operators in New South Wales regarding the heightened scrutiny on AML, underage gambling, and payment channel integrity?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,156,158],"tags":[23871],"class_list":["post-28891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","tag-the-star-entertainment-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28891","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=28891"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28922,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28891\/revisions\/28922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}