Crown Resorts Finally Found Their Chief Compliance & Financial Crimes Officer

Article by : SlotsUp Team Dec 15, 2020

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It has finally happened: Crown Resorts, the Australian casino operator with an impressive track record of finding itself amidst controversies, announced on December 2 that it has selected its Chief Compliance and Financial Crimes Officer.

The newcomer to Crown Resorts, Steven Blackburn, is currently occupying the position of Chief Financial Crime Risk Officer and Group Money Laundering Reporting Officer at National Australia Bank. Blackburn is a professional when it comes to compliance and financial crimes – apart from serving in a similar position at the National Australia Bank, he was the Chief AML Officer at another bank in Canada, CIBC. However, Crown Resorts doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to open up the new Compliance and Financial Crimes department just yet. Blackburn’s appointment will enter into force on March 1 – almost three months from now.

I am very pleased Steven has agreed to join Crown. This appointment is a further significant step forward in strengthening our compliance and anti-money laundering functions. Steven is an experienced compliance executive, and his substantial technical expertise and global perspectives will position him well to take a leadership role in driving further improvements through the business.

Helen Coonan, the company’s Chairman, also emphasized how important Blackburn’s appointment is for enforcing changes within the company: “Steven’s appointment, with a direct reporting line to the Board, represents the Board’s commitment to overseeing improvements across all areas of compliance and we look forward to working with him.” The announcement arrived during the tough times for Crown Resorts. It is investigated for working with junket operators with alleged ties to organized crimes, as well as for allegations of money laundering and bribing Australia’s Department of Home Affairs officials. The scandal also prompted the New South Wales regulator to order delaying the opening of a Crown Resorts’ casino complex in Sydney.

To add insult to injury, the counsel involved in the inquiry into the company’s activities recommended the regulators to revoke Crown Resorts’ gambling license as it was deemed “no longer suitable” to hold it. The inquiry itself is ongoing – it will last until February next year – so it remains to be seen whether the casino operator will manage to keep its license and continue doing business in the gambling industry.

And it’s hardly the only scandal Crown Resorts got involved in over the past two years. There were whistleblower accounts that the company tampered with its slot machines, a public outcry over an Indonesian arms dealer’s visits to two of Crown Resorts’ casinos, and investigations into its alleged money laundering activities. So, it’s been high time for a Chief Compliance & Financial Crimes Officer to come to the company for months and even years.

The company’s performance over this year’s first six months also leaves much to be desired (although it could be far worse, too). Crown Resorts’ earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were reported to drop by 40.6% in a year-on-year comparison, while the company’s revenue was 25.7% lower than in 2019. The ongoing inquiry, combined with the overall stink of a scandal, could end up quite damaging for the company’s 2020 bottom line – but we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves.