In July 2022, the Honourable Brian Martin, an officer of the Order of Australia and King’s Counsel, was put in charge of reviewing SkyCity Adelaide’s suitability to preserve its monopoly casino license.  

Now, commissioner Martin has sent a direct notice to SkyAdelaide using Section 10 part of the Gambling Administration Act 2019, asking them to name a qualified independent suitability expert. 

Commissioner Martin’s Review, Put on Hold

The commissioner’s independent review initiated last July under section 22(2) of the Casino Act 1997 was also aimed at determining whether SkyCity should continue its collaboration with SkyCity Adelaide Pty Limited. 

On February 6, the Consumer and Business Services, which is South Australia’s gaming regulator, informed SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited that Martin’s review was put on hold. 

This was due to the pending resolution of the civil penalty proceedings that had been filed by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center against the premiere casino located on the banks of the River Torrens in December 2022. 

After closely considering his next action while his review was on hold, commissioner Martin finally sent a notice to SkyAdelaide, urging them to appoint a qualified independent suitability expert. 

The expert would have to receive the approval of the same South Australian Liquor and Gambling Commissioner.

What Will the Independent Expert Do?

The independent expert will be responsible for revising and amending SkyCity Adelaide’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing programs while supervising the implementation of the responsibility enhancement programs. 

The appointed expert will also need to conduct similar procedures related to the minimization of gambling harm and report back to the commissioner to inform him of the latest updates.

According to a statement issued by SkyCity, the decision should offer an “independent perspective” of the casino’s AML and counter-terrorism financing programs while adding an additional layer of assurance.

The Auckland-based group, one of Australasia’s top entertainment and gaming companies, also stated they would keep working with Consumer and Business Services and comply with any additional information and document requests.

At the moment, SkyCity Adelaide represents Adelaide’s 10^th largest employer, injecting approximately $30 million into the state on a yearly basis each with the help of its staff that consists of more than 1,000 members. 

Since it was built almost four decades ago, SkyCity Adelaide has continued to go through essential upgrades to guarantee it remains “the most exciting entertainment venue in Adelaide.”

The publicly-listed SkyCity Entertainment Group currently employs more than 3,400 people in Australia and New Zealand. The group is also the owner and operator of a series of casinos in Queenstown, Hamilton, and Auckland.

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The Phillipines’ Anti-money Laundering Council has released the report of the study it conducted into the junket sector of the country’s casino industry, especially in terms of suspicious transactions and terrorism financing. Findings from its analysis made the body conclude that the casino sector needs to put in place stronger procedures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.

With The Phillipines being on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force due to lax AML/CTF controls, the AMLC decided to launch an investigation into the casino sector. While the investigation uncovered several issues, one of the main discoveries of the investigation is the non-reporting of multiple transactions by casino junket operators.

The Phillipines casino sector permits junket operators who persuade high-rollers with incentives like all-expense paid accomodations just to get them to gamble at a partnering casino. But the agreement is that all transactions made while gambling must be reported to the casino.

However, the AMLC’s analysis revealed that junket operators have failed in complying with this procedure. The body gave an instance at an unnamed integrated resort where a junket operator repeatedly failed to file a suspicious transactions report despite such occuring even up to the tune of Php1.58 billion (US$29 million). This is asides several other instances of non-compliance by junket operators.

The body noted: “The heavy use of physical cash by casino players of covered and suspicious transactions by certain casino junket operators contributes to the [issue], coupled with the non-reporting vulnerability of high-risk integrated resorts to money laundering risks,”

This has made the AMLC note four key risk areas casino operators should watch out for as they deal with junkket operators. This includes violation of junket agreements; the involvement of junket operators in criminal conspiracy; the purchase of chips with small-denomination currency, followed by modest gambling actions; and conduct of financial transactions not commensurate with declared source of funds.

With Macau closing down junket operations in its casino sector, other countries are starting to take a hard look at how junkets operate and how to mitigate the risks.

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