The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has submitted a request to suspend the casino license of SkyCity Entertainment’s SkyCity Casino Management (SCML) division for a period of about 10 days over violations related to harm minimization, the company announced September 4.
The request, which caused SkyCity stock to drop to its lowest level since April 2020, came in response to complaints that were submitted last year by a former player who frequented the SkyCity Auckland casino for years and was never stopped from playing for long periods of time without intervention from the operator.
“The Secretary (of the DIA) states in the application that SCML did not comply with requirements in its SkyCity Auckland Host Responsibility Programme relating to detection of incidences of continuous play by the customer,” the operator said in a statement.
Any potential suspension would only apply to casino operations and not hotels and dining facilities, and a ruling is not expected to be handed down for weeks or perhaps months.
“SkyCity will fully cooperate with the secretary in relation to the application and process,” the statement continued. “Given the application is before the commission it would be inappropriate for SkyCity to comment further on the application and allegations at this stage.”
“The Secretary believes SkyCity has breached important harm-minimisation obligations including conditions of its license and conditions of its Host Responsibility Programme relating to instances of long-play by its customers,” said John Sneyd, general manager of regulatory services for the DIA, according to Reuters.
This is the latest in a growing list of regulatory concerns for SkyCity, which is also under scrutiny from Australia’s financial regulator AUSTRAC for potential anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding (AML/CTF) violations.
The operator announced earlier this month that it has already earmarked some AU$45 million (US$29 million) for potential civil penalties.
