Crown’s casino opening on hold

CROWN Resorts has been ordered not to open its new casino until a probe into its suitability to hold a licence for the venue is concluded.

The decision is a major blow for the casino group, which was preparing to open the $2.2bn development in central Sydney next month.

Shares in the Melbournebased company, which is backed by billionaire James Packer, slipped 0.6 per cent on Wednesday before they were put in a trading halt at the request of the group.

It came ahead of the announcement about the delay from New South Wales’ Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.

The regulator is hosting an inquiry, overseen by commissioner Patricia Bergin, into Crown’s suitability to run a casino in NSW.

Authority chair Phillip Crawford said the watchdog would not grant Crown the permits needed at the Barangaroo site until the inquiry was wrapped up in February.

Mr Crawford said the authority had found evidence tabled at the inquiry “to be extremely concerning” and opening the casino before the probe was completed “would pose unacceptable risks”.

The watchdog’s biggest concerns were “quite frankly” around money laundering, and it was concerned Crown’s legal team on Tuesday submitted to the inquiry that there was a possibility money laundering could have happened through company accounts, he said.

Mr Crawford said the authority would consider approving a limited opening of the hotels and bars within the Barangaroo complex next month, but not the casino. This offer had been previously put to Crown, but Crown did not take it up, he said.

Crown wasn’t “picking up the vibe” of the inquiry and should have volunteered not to open the venue, Mr Crawford said. “We did suggest originally to Crown that we would be happy to talk to them about a limited opening — that is their hotel, their bars and the restaurants,” he said. “Initially they didn’t take us up and wanted to have a graduated opening including gaming.

“We’re not comfortable with that.”

On Wednesday morning, Crown offered a concession in a bid to be allowed to open. It proposed initially opening only one of four levels earmarked for gambling at the site, with an opening date of December 21 — rather than December 14, as previously planned — and allowing complete regulatory scrutiny of its compliance systems.

In a statement late on Wednesday afternoon, the company said it would continue to focus on opening the nongaming operations.