Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN APR 2021 26 COVER STORY “It’s ironic and almost unbelievable that a company that has traded in other jurisdictions for almost 30 years did not have adequate measures in place. This is not a start-up we’re dealing with.” – Philip Crawford, ILGA chair 「30年近く他の法域でビジネスを行ってきた 企業が、適切な措置を講じていなかったことは 皮肉であり、ほぼ信じがたい。これは我々が扱 っているようなスタートアップ企業ではない」 -フィリップ・クローフォード Asked if its goal was to help Crown reach suitability, Crawford told IAG , “We don’t have a goal but I certainly want to act in good faith in complying with our obligations under these agreements that were entered into with the government. Balancing that with our obvious obligations as a regulator, I wouldn’t have embarked on this process in anything other than good faith to determine whether we could get them to a point where we would be comfortable and find them suitable. “To the extent where I saw any conduct or behavior which worried me, then obviously that would be a matter for concern, but I haven’t seen that. I have seen a board under Helen Coonan driving very hard to come to terms with the concerns of Bergin and the major recommendations under Bergin, so at the moment, on face value, they are doing what they should be doing.” While the ILGA is still awaiting the results of an audit of all Crown bank accounts by Deloitte Australia – aimed at “making sure other accounts haven’t been infiltrated by organized crime and that there are no irregularities with their handling of money” – the regulator did grant interim liquor licenses for Crown Sydney’s non-gaming facilities, which opened on 28 December. Crawford also intimated that those interim licenses would likely be extended beyond their current 30 April expiration date. Yet, for all its progress in NSW, the bigger concern for Crown appears to be in Victoria and Western Australia – home to Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth respectively – where both state governments have responded to the Bergin Report by launching Royal Commissions of their own.