The government has expanded its investigation into Crown Resorts to include other prime players in the gaming industry. Australia’s anti-money-laundering agency widened its investigation into the country’s gaming industry to have the three biggest operators causing mayhem in the casino industry through regulatory scrutiny. There are some new sites to check out at Zamsino with all the details on the probe cases.
A USTA investigation has been launched into two leisure groups: Crown Resorts, SkyCity Leisure Group, and Star Leisure Group. The investigation has been active for several months month doing underground checks of different breaches.
It then means that the house owners of gambling establishments in Australia’s five biggest cities could face enforcement investigations.
Observations
Crown has been subjected to intense stress after an inquiry discovered it unfit for a license to operate a Sydney online casino worth $2.2 billion, hence sparking royalty commissions from two different states, attracting class-action lawsuits. All this is in addition to the AUSTRAC probes expanded on Perth metropolis.
The head of Australia’s anti-money laundering watchdog warned that the online gaming industry is vulnerable to legal misuse due to its services.
Rose noted that the investigation, which focused on the Crown online casino, showed the seriousness of the regulators’ issues, and various considerations were in place.
Australia’s financial AUSTRAC watchdog has confirmed investigations into several banks, including a significant lender in the country.
Anticipated fines
All three firms mentioned that AUSTRAC was involved in the administration of their clients and that they would cooperate with the authorities in any way necessary.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s crackdown on illicit gambling could threaten a mega-deal between Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment worth $9 billion.
Nathan Bell, a portfolio supervisor at Clever Investor, said that if the issue is scientific and ongoing, it could be a regulator objection.
If Star has reasonable requirements, then regulators would be able to weed out the bad apples. It would then allow Star to get its hands on Crown and take over the proposal.
According to analyst Angus Hewitt, the expansion of the investigation into the gaming industry was not good news for the operators of the struggling casinos.
Crown and Star shares had been down by 1.5% and 3%, respectively, and due to the public vacation, SkyCity’s New Zealand failed to commerce.
Crown stated it had been authorized to promote over $160 million worth of playing chips to individuals who paid with debit or credit cards from 2012 to 2016, leading to another sparked detailed investigation.
AUSTRAC said it was investigating whether Star Entertainment Group and SkyCity Entertainment Group made breaches of rules. Crown already had been analyzed on its potential violations at Melbourne casino the company-owned. At the moment, the Perth casino will be put under investigation as well.
Investigation
The Australian Financial Services Authority widened its investigation into the country’s biggest gambling operators to include the three biggest names.
Several of Australia’s biggest gaming companies are under investigation for possible breaches of background checks. Some of the casinos under the formal investigation are the AUSTRAC, Crown Resorts, New Zealand SkyCity, and Star Group. You can try it for free here to see all the analysis detailing.
Australia’s gambling watchdog has expanded its probe into Crown’s casinos to include Perth casino. After a significant inquiry, the company could not open the Sydney casino found it unfit to hold a gaming license in the state.
An inquiry has found that Crown Melbourne had been laundering money and facilitating commercial relationships with criminal groups in the various cities in Australia. The investigation into the company’s management recommended that a new set of directors replace the board.
Star Entertainment Group is under investigation for alleged breaches of due diligence laws. The investigations into money-laundering allegations would have jeopardized the proposed acquisition of Crown Resorts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has launched an investigation into the company’s operations in Adelaide due to the management shortcomings of handling clients.
The three companies said they would cooperate fully with AUSTRAC, investigating their management of high-risk and politically exposed individuals.
Coming reviews
The investigations into Crown Resorts are still ongoing, including the two other newly added companies. AUSTRAC formally looks into the operations of the companies carrying out the due diligence on any breaches. Enforcement investigations are also ongoing against companies for any violations, and if found with any violations, then their operating licenses will be restricted and subject to different fines.
The pressure on Crown Resorts has been building for the last few months as they were found to have violated the operating regulations. The company was found unfit for its license to operate in Sydney. It was unable to open the venue for gaming until late last year.
In addition, the company was the subject of class-action lawsuits in other states. This week, AUSTRAC expanded its review into Perth regarding a similar matter.
The Star has been placed under investigation for possible breaches of anti-money laundering and consumer protection laws. The company has to provide all the required information by the officials to aid in the continuing quest.
In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Rose noted that the gaming industry in the country is at risk of criminal exploitation due to the availability of specific products and services. An enforcement investigation is currently taking place at the Crown Perth casino. It shows the seriousness of the group’s concerns with the gaming industry.
The anti-money laundering and counter-terror agency AUSTRAC has launched investigations against the three gambling companies. It is believed that the agencies are investigating the companies for not managing the risks associated with specific customers.
In conclusion, the deal between Crown and Star may be affected
The investigations are expected to focus on the operations of Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment. In the ongoing investigations, an objection takeover can be raised.
Nathan Bell, the manager of Intelligent Investor, said that if Star’s investigation shows that the company has good standards, the takeover proposal should be considered.
Other analysts believe that the investigations will result in fines and that the operators will most likely be affected by the findings.
The trading of Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment is down after the announcement of the proposed merger between the two companies.
The public will be kept informed about any changes or rulings made by AUSTRAC as they happen.
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