Blackstone-owned Crown Resorts found fit to hold Melbourne casino license
FILE PHOTO: Construction on Crown Towers Sydney, a casino and hotel complex, takes place on the harbour waterfront in Sydney, Australia, October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Blackstone-owned Crown Resorts can keep its licence to operate its flagship Melbourne casino, a gambling regulator said on Tuesday, more than two years after the casino was put under government supervision for breaking anti-money laundering laws.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) said it was in the public interest that Melbourne casino licence of the Crown Resorts remained in force.
“Today, the commission is satisfied that the systemic failings of Crown Melbourne are a thing of the past,” VGCCC Chair Fran Thorn said during a media briefing.
“But ongoing suitability will be significantly demonstrated by how Crown responds to instances of operational failure, not by their total absence.”
Thorn said she was “clearly satisfied” the Melbourne casino can keep operating after findings of the VGCCC and the special manager, and Crown’s commitment to its transformation plan.
In a statement, Crown Resorts acknowledged the regulator’s requirement, and said it would continue to work constructively to ensure ongoing compliance with broader industry regulations.
“Over 10,000 pages of documentation have been submitted and 770 remediation activities have been delivered to our state regulators, fundamentally rebuilding our organisation from the inside out,” Crown CEO Ciaran Carruthers said.
Crown Resorts last year agreed to pay a A$450 million ($294 million) fine for breaking anti-money laundering laws, after allegations over governance sparked inquiries in states in which it operated, plus a probe by the financial crime watchdog.
It was allowed to continue to take bets in Victoria state after authorities weighed the economic impact of cancelling the company’s licence. Crown Resorts, which was taken private in 2022 by Blackstone (NYSE:BX) for A$8.9 billion, is Victoria’s biggest single-site private sector employer, with about 11,500 staff.
State governments ordered inquiries into Crown Resorts after media reports in 2019 accused it of knowingly dealing with foreign tour operators with ties to organised crime and turning a blind eye to money laundering.
($1 = 1.5295 Australian dollars)
