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☆ Australia court approves $300m money laundering fine for Blackstone's Crown Resorts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, July 11 (Reuters) - An Australian court signed off on a A$450 million ($300 million) fine for Blackstone-owned (BX.N) casino operator Crown Resorts for breaking anti-money laundering laws, ending the darkest chapter in the company's history. read moreBut the fine needed the sign-off of the federal court, which approved the penalty, Australia's third-largest corporate fine, on Tuesday. Crown, which was bought by Blackstone after the events at the centre of the scandal took place, said in a statement that the court approval brings an end to the historical anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing "failures at Crown". The fine takes Crown's total penalties to A$680 million since it was rocked by accusations of ignoring organised crime and employee safety in hearings since 2020. ($1 = 1.4959 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye Editing by Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: James Packer, Michael Lee, Lee, Blackstone, Byron Kaye, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: SYDNEY, Blackstone, Crown Resorts, Crown, Thomson

May 30 (Reuters) - Crown Resorts, the Australian casino operator bought by Blackstone Inc (BX.N) after three damaging inquiries, agreed to pay a A$450 million ($294 million) fine for breaking anti-money laundering laws, a step toward ending its darkest chapter. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with AUSTRAC," said Crown Resorts CEO Ciarán Carruthers, who started in the role in September. "The company that committed these unacceptable, historic breaches is far removed from the company that exists today." Australian regulators over the recent years have penalised a slew of companies over breaches and non-compliances, with the country's "Big Four" banks fined the most. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Byron Kaye in Sydney and Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Factbox: Penalties imposed on Australian companies over the recent years
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Here are some of the major penalties imposed by the regulators:AMP LTD (AMP.AX)Troubled Australian wealth manager AMP Ltd was fined a court-mandated penalty of A$24 million in May for billing dead clients for insurance and financial advice. In October 2022, ANZ was penalised A$25 million for failing to provide certain benefits it had agreed to give customers. In October 2022, CBA's trading unit was fined A$20 million for compliance failures in delivering financial services. NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK (NAB.AX)National Australia Bank, the country's second-largest bank, was charged A$18.5 million penalty in August 2021 by a court for issuing misleading fee disclosure statements or none at all. WESTPAC BANKING CORP (WBC.AX)Australia's third-biggest lender, Westpac Banking Corp was ordered to pay A$113 million in penalties in April 2022 for multiple compliance failures across its businesses.

☆ Crown Resorts and Australian regulator agree to $294 mln penalty
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 30 (Reuters) - Crown Resorts has agreed to a A$450 million ($294 million) penalty after it failed to prevent money laundering and criminal activity at its casinos, Australia's financial crime regulator said on Tuesday. In reaching the agreement, Crown has admitted that it operated in breach of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act), AUSTRAC said. Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth casinos failed to appropriately assess the money laundering and terrorism financing risks they faced, and to identify and respond to changes in risk over time, the regulator added. "The company that committed these unacceptable, historic breaches is far removed from the company that exists today," Crown said in a statement. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harish Sridharan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Crown Resorts' data vendor hacked, limited number of its files impacted
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 27 (Reuters) - Australia's biggest casino operator Crown Resorts said on Monday it was investigating a data breach at its third-party file transfer service, GoAnywhere, in which hackers obtained a limited number of Crown's files. "We were recently contacted by a ransomware group who claimed they have illegally obtained a limited number of Crown files," a spokesperson of the formerly listed firm said in a statement. "We can confirm no customer data has been compromised and our business operations have not been impacted." Suspicious activity at GoAnywhere was identified by U.S. cybersecurity firm Fortra nearly two months ago, that offers the service, and has impacted many organisations including mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.AX). Crown Resorts was bought out in a $6.3 billion deal by U.S. private equity giant Blackstone Inc last June.

☆ Australia's Star Entertainment sees up to $1.1 billion hit from tax change; shares plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Savyata Mishra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Star Entertainment said it would incur remediation costs of about A$20 million during the six months ended Dec. 31, 2022, as it attempts to "improve compliance processes as the group seeks to return to licence suitability". Star Entertainment shares slumped almost 11% to A$1.67 in early trading. The casino operator on Monday also announced a number of initiatives, including loyalty benefits and pricing actions, to respond to competition in Sydney, where its bigger rival Crown Resorts operates. The initiatives would likely contribute about A$40 million on an annualised basis to the operating performance, Star Entertainment said. It expects underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation within A$195 million to A$205 million in its first-half results.

☆ Australia's Star Entertainment sees up to $1.1 bln hit from tax change; shares plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( Savyata Mishra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ It's the most wonderful time of the year: PE giants Blackstone and Apollo just dropped their holiday videos with starring roles for their billionaire CEOs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Private-equity giants Blackstone and Apollo released their holiday-themed videos on Thursday. In Apollo's, employees are chefs and cook up a holiday meal for the firm at the CEO's request. So it goes in the world of private-equity firms' holiday videos, where straight-laced investors and billionaire chief executives get very into their starring roles and the jokes are a little on the nose. The secret thing that makes Blackstone, Blackstone," he responds. Finally, as he puts on a Santa hat, Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman says the secret is the great people they hire.

☆ Australian regulator begins civil lawsuit against Star Entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Star Entertainment Group (SGR.AX) said Australia's financial crimes regulator has begun a civil lawsuit against it over allegations of failure to comply with disclosure norms in relation to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) will commence civil penalty proceedings against two of Star's units, The Star Pty and The Star Entertainment Queensland Ltd, the casino operator said on Wednesday. Star, however, said AUSTRAC did not specify the damages it was seeking from the said lawsuit. Star's shares have dropped 28.8% in a year marked with investigations and scrutiny of its operations over its alleged failure to prevent money laundering and criminal activity. Reporting by Tejaswi Marthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Australia's Crown Resorts fined $77 million by regulators
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Australian casino operator Crown Resorts has been fined A$120 million ($77.3 million) for serious misconduct, regulators of the state of Victoria said on Monday. Some of the breaches included failing to prevent gambling harm by allowing players to gamble continuously for 12 hours or more without observation or interaction, with some customers allowed to gamble continuously for well over 24 hours, it said. The casino operation also allowed large numbers of customers in the problem gambling category to escape attention, the report added. Australia's gambling industry has been in the spotlight in recent years, with public inquiries lashing its biggest casino operators due to lapses in money laundering protections. read more($1 = 1.5533 Australian dollars)Reporting by Praveen Menon and Byron Kaye; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Virat Kohli appalled by invasion of privacy after hotel room filmed
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —India’s Virat Kohli said he was the victim of an “absolute invasion of privacy” after individuals entered his hotel room in Perth and posted video of his clothes and belongings on social media on Monday. The former India captain said he was appalled by the actions of the “fans” and called for his privacy to be respected. “But this video here is appalling and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all? “I’m not okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy.

☆ Australia casino firm Star to be fined $62 million following inquiry, Sydney Morning Herald reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Australian casino firm Star Entertainment Group (SGR.AX) will be fined A$100 million ($62 million) after an inquiry found it failed to prevent money laundering and criminal activity in its Sydney casino, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The New South Wales Independent Casino Commission (NICC) will hand down the decision on Monday, the newspaper reported on Sunday, citing unidentified sources. The report said it had identified "systemic governance, risk and cultural failures" at the Sydney casino of Star, Australia's second-biggest casino operator. Neighbouring Queensland state this month declared Star was unsuitable for a gambling licence after an inquiry found it concealed illegal Chinese wagering payments and lured problem gamblers. Australia's casino sector was put under intense scrutiny over the last three years after media reports accused Star's larger rival Crown Resorts Ltd of money laundering, prompting some states to launch inquiries.

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