SkyCity Adelaide to pay $67m penalty for money laundering
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The news: SkyCity Adelaide has reached an agreement with the anti-money laundering watchdog Austrac which could see the casino operator pay out a $67 million civil penalty, the company said in an ASX announcement.
The context: The settlement agreement addresses 2022 allegations of historical non-compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.
The proposed penalty must still gain the approval of the Federal Court.
Austrac's 2022 allegations refer to a period of alleged non-compliance with anti-money laundering laws from 7 December 2016 to 14 December 2022.
A penalty hearing will take place in the Federal Court on 7 June, where SkyCity Adelaide and Austrac will lay out the reasons for reaching the proposed figure.
SkyCity is still working to resolve other regulatory matters, including civil penalty proceedings brought against SkyCity casino management by the Department of Internal Affairs in February this year, as well as a government application to suspend its New Zealand operating license and a review by consumer and business services into SkyCity Adelaide that had been put on hold while the separate Austrac proceedings were on foot.
What they said: SkyCity executive chair, Julian Cook, said "Our enhancement activities remain ongoing and we have further important work to do in New Zealand and Australia which will take time to complete. We have commenced a comprehensive multi-year transformation programme to strengthen how we manage risk across SkyCity Group."
"We are determined to continually lift our AML/CTF practices, comply with our obligations and uphold our customer, community and regulatory expectations," he added.
The source: ASX announcement
