Season 6, Episode 6: Casinos, gambling and money laundering risks
Australian gambling giant Star Entertainment Group was last month fined A$100 million for failing to stop money laundering at its Sydney casino. The group's licence to operate the casino has also been suspended. Casino operators in Australia have been under great pressure to reform their gambling operations following reports of widespread criminal activity. The record penalties were announced in response to a damning inquiry in New South Wales (NSW) earlier this year. The Star is not alone. There has been misconduct at various casinos around Australia in recent years, including at those owned by the country's largest gaming and entertainment group - Crown Resorts. It was fined A$80 million by Victorian gambling authorities earlier this year for its failures to stop criminal activity. It is also in litigation with the country's feared AML/CTF agency, AUSTRAC, which is known for handing down billion-dollar penalties. In this episode Alexander Robson, managing editor, Regulatory Intelligence, is joined by Nathan Lynch, APAC managing editor in Perth, and Niall Coburn, senior regulatory intelligence expert in Brisbane, to discuss the failures at the casinos, what needs to happen next and they offer lessons well beyond Australia. Articles on Regulatory Intelligence (subscription needed) COLUMN: Star casino report highlights gaps in Australia's criminal intelligence http://go-ri.tr.com/PeqrM3 COLUMN: Queensland Star casino inquiry will consider compliance problems exposed in other states http://go-ri.tr.com/4BKu4c IMPACT ANALYSIS: Australian casinos – no consequences for directors despite widespread corporate governance failings http://go-ri.tr.com/Y8hCKO Star inquiry slates casino's Chinese payment card AML workaround http://go-ri.tr.com/B44iIm AUSTRAC defends billion-dollar penalties as crucial deterrent against corporate apathy http://go-ri.tr.com/VOkA5B No paywallAustralia casino operator Star found unfit for Queensland licence https://www.reuters.com/business/australia-casino-operator-star-found-unfit-queensland-licence-2022-10-06/ Money laundering through the gambling industry https://baselgovernance.org/sites/default/files/2022-09/QG28%20gambling.pdf Junket tour operations in Australia https://www.austrac.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-12/JTO_2020_FINAL.pdf The Compliance Clarified podcast series covers the wide range of topics which affect compliance officers in financial services firms. The series has been designed to help compliance officers make sense of the often-challenging world of financial services regulation, which is now overlaid with expectations not found in the black and white of any rulebook. The role and remit of the compliance officer is ever-growing, and senior compliance officers have had to become polymaths, mastering not only detailed subject matter expertise but also the qualitative mysteries of culture and conduct risk. Compliance Clarified covers the hot topics of the day and the challenges they bring, and aims to offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice.