Star Entertainment Group, an Australian gambling company, has hired the services of Allen & Overy Consulting, an independent consultancy. The latter will be responsible for overseeing Star’s renewal program.
Star Wants to Make Things Right
Star Entertainment Group was recently involved in controversy as Australian regulators found the company guilty of breaching certain regulations. As a result, Star vowed to make things right and introduce the needed compliance measures. The aforementioned renewal program is exactly that.
To be more precise, Star Entertainment’s program that will make it easier for the company to remain compliant by improving transparent reporting to Star’s board and the local regulator. To further demonstrate its commitment to playing by the rules, Star Entertainment hired the services of Allen & Overy Consulting.
The consultancy is a specialist in regulatory matters and will monitor the renewal program. In addition, Ben Heap, Star Entertainment’s interim chairman, spoke about the matter. He said that he looks forward to implementing the renewal program and working with regulators to improve the company’s business. Heap is hellbent on making Star’s business practices healthier and more responsible.
The renewal program will deliver immediate and medium-term outcomes focused on governance, culture, training, systems and technology initiatives. This is an important program of work for The Star and early elements of the program are well underway.
Ben Heap, interim chair, Star Entertainment Group
Heap promised to report all progress to the responsible regulatory authorities. He also added that Star will hire independent monitoring services, such as Allen & Overy, where needed.
Walking the Path of Betterment
Star’s renewal program and its approach are similar to those adopted by Crown Resorts, another gambling juggernaut that recently got into trouble. The former company is currently awaiting the results of the review of its The Star Sydney casino. The review is expected to finish by the end of this month, after which the results will be handed to New South Wales’s Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. A month ago, Queensland also announced that it will check Star’s business for money-laundering-related breaches.
Star will now have to walk the path of betterment and make sure its previous violations don’t happen again. The company may face extra challenges, however, as New South Wales recently introduced amendments to its casino laws. As a result of the changes, operators’ board members may receive personal fines for compliance breaches.
In other news, Star Entertainment recently posted its FY2022 results. The company demonstrated a strong recovery despite the controversies and regulatory headwinds. Star Sydney was the only venue to have lower revenues than those in 2019.