CASINOS – AUSTRALIA – REGULATION

Star loses $1b in value as probe widens

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 20 : 12-Oct-21

Shares in Star Entertainment fell by 22.9 per cent on 11 October, following the publication of allegations that it allowed money laundering and infiltration by organised crime figures at its Gold Coast and Sydney casinos. NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority chairman Philip Crawford said it would investigate the allegations, but that it would do so in private, claiming that the logistical and cost challenges were too great for the Authority to facilitate a public hearing. Shareholder and gambling-reform activist Stephen Mayne claims the allegations against Star show the need for a national casino regulator, a view shared by Independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie.

CORPORATES
THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT LIQUOR AND GAMING AUTHORITY

Crown role makes Coonan unfit to lead financial ombudsman: Labor

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 2-Nov-20

Opposition financial services spokesman Stephen Jones claims Helen Coonan’s role as chairman of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority is "untenable". Coonan is also the chairman of casino operator Crown Resorts, which is currently the subject of inquiry by the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. Jones says Coonan should not be head of a body that determines whether financial entities have been acting with probity while at the same time trying to push off allegations that Crown’s casinos have been used for significant money laundering. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says establishing the Authority is a "proud achievement" of the federal government, and that Coonan is a "widely respected" former MP.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, NEW SOUTH WALES. INDEPENDENT LIQUOR AND GAMING AUTHORITY

Star boss breaks silence on tarnished Crown

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Original article by Natasha Gillezeau
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 9-Aug-19

Star Entertainment Group CEO Matt Bekier says junkets are an long-established feature of the gaming and wagering sector. The use of junkets by casino companies has been in the news recently, with media reports claiming that some of the ‘junket’ operators that Star rival Crown Resorts uses to entice Chinese ‘high-rollers’ to Australia have connections to organised crime. In terms of how Star uses junkets, Bekier says its investors can be confident it is doing the right thing.

CORPORATES
THE STAR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGR, CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN