Crown Resorts confronts a regulatory probe in Australia into its Melbourne operations, and it is about to lose one of its directorial board members on the process.
In a recent announcement, the Australian casino operator asserted that the Victoria state government had built a royal commission to evaluate Crown’s eligibility to possess a gaming license to run its casino, Crown Melbourne. One of Queen’s Counsels, Raymond Finkelstein, will lead the commission. The commission is set to submit its report by August 1.
Crown’s Melbourne casino was accused of the most regulatory shenanigans by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority’s (ILGA) investigation, which was to look into all the regulatory deficiencies at Crown’s casinos in Perth and Melbourne.
The investigation report drew its conclusion by referring to the unsuitability of Crown to run gaming operations at its new venue Crown Sydney. This new venue became available for the public in December last year, reportedly without any viable casino component.
The Bergin Report Fallout
The summary of that whole investigation was submitted to the authority under the name of the Bergin report, which successfully created a fallout that led several of the Crown’s members of the directorial board to resign. On Monday, the Crown proclaimed the abdication of another director, Herold Mitchell.
The report’s argument depicted that Crown Sydney was highly unsuitable to hold the gaming license that it lacked the minimum capability to run its operations. The argument not only accused Crown Resort of incapability and vague policy to run its Sydney venue but also put question marks on the state of other venues in Australia owned by the same name.
The Royal Commission
The severity of the report’s finding can be realized by the statement of Victoria’s gaming minister Melissa Horne where she said that the condition was so severe that Victoria had no other choice but to build a royal commission to secure its interests.
In response, the chairman of Crown, Helen Coonan, promised to provide full cooperation to the commission. He said the probe would help them take measures to reform and change their business to introduce and sustain the highest standards of compliance and governance.