SkyCity to pay $3.8m over money laundering in NZ

The news: Casino operator SkyCity Entertainment has reached an agreement with New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs to settle civil proceedings related to breaches of anti-money laundering laws.

The numbers: Under the agreement, SkyCity has admitted to breaches of New Zealand’s anti-money laundering law between 2018 and 2023 and will pay NZD4.16 million ($3.81 million) as civil pecuniary penalty, subject to court approval.

The context: SkyCity executive chair Julian Cook apologised for the breaches and said the company had made considerable progress towards upgrading its anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing systems. SkyCity had been hit with the civil penalty proceedings in February over non-compliance at its Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown casinos.

The agreement comes just days after the dual-listed company settled similar proceedings for breaching anti-money laundering in Australia between 2016 and 2022, agreeing to pay out a $67 million civil penalty. It is still working to resolve other regulatory matters, including a government application to suspend its New Zealand operating licence and a review by consumer and business services into SkyCity Adelaide that had been put on hold earlier.