The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) has confirmed it will receive the final report of an inquiry into the suitability of Crown Resorts to hold a casino license for its AU$2.2 billion Crown Sydney development this Monday 1 February 2021. However, it could be another two weeks until those findings are made public.
In a statement issued Friday, the NSW regulator said its board will consider the report before releasing the findings, although this is expected to take place within the next two weeks. Crown acknowledged the anticipated timeline in an announcement of its own on Friday.
The stakes are huge for Crown, which had originally planned to open all facilities at Crown Sydney on 14 December last year. After the ILGA said it was unable to consider a range of essential casino-related regulatory applications on matters such as minimum bet limits, VIP membership policy, gaming area boundaries and “close associates” of the license holder while the findings of the inquiry were still pending, the property instead opened some non-gaming facilities only on 28 December.
Under an interim liquor license granted in November, Crown Towers Hotel plus most bars and restaurants are allowed to operate until 30 April 2021 at which time Crown will be required to reapply.
Any extension of liquor licenses beyond 30 April will depend on the findings of the report, which are expected to outline certain requirements and recommendations around compliance issues raised during the course of recent hearings.
As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, those recommendations could include anything from the payment of monetary fines to boardroom changes or even stipulations around the stake of Crown’s largest individual shareholder, James Packer. Packer currently holds 36% of the company’s issued share capital.
The company may also face an anxious wait in Victoria after the Victorian Commission for Liquor and Gambling Regulation (VCLGR) revealed late last year that it would bring forward the seventh review of Crown’s casino license to operate Crown Melbourne – the flagship property opened in 1995. The VCLGR said it will now report its finding to the Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation in 2021 – just three years after completing its last review.
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