The carousel keeps turning for Star Entertainment, as the company announced in filings to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) March 22 that CEO and Managing Director Robbie Cooke was stepping down with immediate effect as regulators in New South Wales (NSW) continue their second inquiry into the suitability of Star Sydney.
Cooke, who was appointed to the role of CEO in October 2022, was considered a key figure in the company’s quest to regain full control of its NSW and Queensland casino licenses, but in the ASX filing, Star contended that his continued employment was “not going to be conducive” to that goal.
The outgoing CEO will be replaced on an interim basis by Chairman David Foster until a permanent replacement is named.
In a statement, Foster lauded Cooke’s efforts to stabilize the company during a difficult time and his attempts to resolve “a number of existential threats to the business.” He also noted that Cooke helped to rebuild the management staff to include more compliance and financial crime experts.
“Robbie shared in a resolve to put safe, responsible and ethical gaming at the core of what we do,” Foster said. “We remain absolutely committed to being judged suitable to hold a casino license in NSW and Queensland.”
Star also announced the departure of Chief Financial Officer Christina Katsibouba, who spent two years in the role and nine years with the company overall.
Veteran financial executive Neale O’Connell, who spent time as CFO of Corporate Travel Management and Tatts Group, joined Star as interim CFO March 25.
In a note to staff reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, Cooke posited that his downfall was likely attributable to his decision to retain a number of senior executives in the wake of the second regulatory inquiry announced earlier this year, presumably referring to Katsibouba and others.
Per the Herald, Cooke maintained that the executives in question “were not on Star’s executive committee at the time the offending conduct identified in the original Bell inquiry,” and therefore he was “not aware of any basis to suggest they were bad actors.”
Cooke also directly referenced Philip Crawford, the chief commissioner of the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC), as not being happy with the amount of progress the company had made under his tenure thus far, which Cooke “respectfully and fundamentally” disagreed with.
A fair amount of the company’s recent troubles stem directly from the original Bell inquiry, headed by Adam Bell, SC.
That investigation began in November 2021, and the findings were published Aug. 31, 2022—Star was deemed unfit for licensure due to a host of regulatory issues, including anti-money laundering (AML) violations and illicit relationships with junkets, such as the now-defunct Suncity Group.
As a result, the company was fined AU$100 million (US$65.3 million), its NSW license was suspended and a third-party manager was appointed to oversee remediation efforts.
Then on Feb. 19 of this year, the NICC said that it was launching a second inquiry—dubbed “Bell Two”—into the matter over fears that sufficient progress was not being made.
“The NICC has had concerns about the extent that remediation is attributable to the manager’s oversight and direction versus what is being driven by Star’s reform agenda,” Crawford said in a statement at the time.
Bell Two is still ongoing, and the NICC has said that the majority of the formal hearings, which are set to commence April 15, will be held publicly. The final report is due to be handed down July 31.
