The licence of Sydney’s The Star will remain suspended and the casino has been hit with a $15 million fine amid ongoing compliance failures.The NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) has imposed a range of conditions on The Star and will re-assess its suitability to regain its casino licence by March 31 next year.The NICC has given the company nine months to pay the $15 million fine.Two inquiries into the casino, known as the Bell Inquiries, identified serious misconduct and failures of compliance and governance.NICC Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford said transparency and accountability at The Star have improved since the appointment of its new CEO but more work needs to be done before the casino is fit to hold its licence.NICC Chief Commissioner Philip Crawford said the second Bell inquiry identified continuing compliance failures and operations at The Star. (ABC News: Ethan Rix)Mr Crawford said the commission weighed up the public interest and stopped short of revoking the casino’s licence.”We just regard it as a very final act and there’s no coming back if you take the licence away,” he said.”If Sydney Star fails, the Star group will fail and that’s a group that employs 9,000-plus people, and if you add onto that the huge number of suppliers to the business, it would effect the lives of a lot of people.”It would be a very, very final act to take the licence away, particularly given the current economic times.”In response to the NICC’s decision, the securities of The Star Entertainment Group Limited have been placed in a trading halt at the request of the company.Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in trading halt until the commencement of normal trading on Friday.A trading halt cannot last longer than two trading days.In a statement, the Star Entertainment Group Limited said they will “continue to engage constructively with the NICC in respect of The Star Sydney and its operations while its licence remains suspended”.”The Star looks forward to continuing its constructive engagement with both the NICC, Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation and its other stakeholders.”Two inquiries into the casino have identified serious misconduct and failures of compliance and governance. (AAP: Joel Carrett)Following the two inquiries by Adam Bell SC, the NICC has:Issued a $15 million fine for “serious breaches” of four internal control manualsOrdered additional financial and operational reporting requirements between now and March next yearProposed amendments to The Star’s suspended casino licence to include more prescriptive requirements around board constitution and key management personnelRequested changes to the Casino Control Act as recommended by Mr Bell’s inquiry.Mr Crawford said The Star CEO Steve McCann had established open lines of communication and cooperation with the NICC, which had resulted in a “much healthier relationship” between the company and the regulator.”There are some green shoots there for this company to succeed,” he said.NICC’s appointed manager of The Star, Nick Weeks, will continue to have oversight of its casino operations, which allows the company to continue operate gaming facilities while its licence is suspended.
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