CASHLESS CASINO ON WAY
Barangaroo set to open — with conditions
CROWN Resorts looks set to be able to open its $2.2bn Barangaroo casino in Sydney by the end of the year, but it won’t be business as usual.
Under sweeping edicts by the NSW gaming regulator, all casinos operated by Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment Group will eventually become cash-free operations and the use of international junket operators will be wiped out.
It means casino gaming will only be possible through identity-linked gambling cards in NSW, where Crown and Star operate the state’s two casinos, as well as in WA and Victoria as their sole casinos are operated by Crown.
Chair of the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority Philip Crawford on Thursday said he had noticed a “change of heart” at Crown Resorts and that “all the auspices” indicated the casino would open by the end of the year.
“I think we can assume that we are hopeful and confident that the opening of the gaming rooms will happen well in advance of the end of October,” Mr Crawford said.
Mr Crawford said Crown’s previous “adversarial behaviour” amid the Bergin inquiry, which ultimately found the company unsuitable to operate its $2.2bn Barangaroo casino, had made him unsure whether the company could be reformed.
But he said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the efforts of executive chairman Helen Coonan and even the co-operation of Crown’s largest shareholder James Packer, despite the Bergin report finding Mr Packer’s “deleterious” influence on the company was a key factor in its unsuitability.
To that end, ILGA has appointed an independent monitor to tell the authority once Crown had finished overhauling its culture, corporate governance and anti-money laundering regime, at which point the group may be deemed suitable.
However there are changes ahead for Crown and for the rival Star Entertainment Group, with Mr Crawford saying agreements had been reached with the companies to eventually “make all gaming in its casinos cashless with card technology linked to identity and a recognised financial institution” and to “not operate any international junket operations”.
Weak money-laundering controls and the exposure to organised crime through international gambling tour operators — or junkets — were other key criticisms of Crown in the Bergin report.
Last year Crown pledged to stop dealing with junket operators unless they were approved by state regulators and on Thursday Mr Crawford said he understood Crown had junked its VIP program “completely”.
Star said the move to cashless operations would be “gradual”, with a timeline to be determined, but a spokesman said: “Customers are demanding alternatives to cash across all sectors and it’s inevitable gaming will move in the same direction.”
Crown Resorts has also agreed to pay a casino supervisory levy to the regulator retrospective to last July and pay a proportion of the costs of the Bergin Inquiry, Mr Crawford said.
Mr Crawford also said he didn’t have any problem with Mr Packer retaining his 37 per cent stake in the company if he didn’t exercise his power.