SkyCity Casino Management Limited (SCML), which holds the casino licenses for the SkyCity Queenstown, SkyCity Hamilton and SkyCity Auckland casinos, will face civil penalty proceedings from New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in the country’s High Court over violations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding (AML/CTF) regulations, the company has announced.
The proceedings, which were first announced on February 12, were filed on February 16. The DIA has outlined a total of five counts that point to the company’s violation of New Zealand’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.
According to SkyCity, some of these violations were already self-reported by the company to the DIA at the time they occurred.
Should the company be found guilty of some or all counts, the maximum penalty it would face would be NZ$8 million. Ironically, this pales in comparison to similar penalties it may face in Australia from its financial watchdog AUSTRAC.
For those potential penalties, which were made in connection to alleged AML/CTF failures at the SkyCity Adelaide casino, the company has set aside a AU$73 million (US$45 million) provision in its accounts for the first half of 2024.
In a statement, SkyCity said that it is “disappointed that it has not met the standard to which it needs to hold itself, and this has resulted in the action taken by the Department.”
“SCML and SkyCity will engage constructively with the Department in relation to the proposed proceedings, with a view to resolving these matters expeditiously. Given that the matter will be before the Court, it would be inappropriate for SkyCity to comment further at this stage.”
