SkyCity Entertainment Group has been informed by the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs that it intends to file civil penalty proceedings against the operator for non-compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act.
To be filed in the High Court on February 16 against SkyCity Casino Management, the penalty outlines five separate causes of action which allege “significant compliance issues in relation to the act”, mostly related to historical matters, but some refer to previously self-reported non-compliance incidents as well.
SkyCity Casino Management is a subsidiary of SkyCity and the casino operator licence holder for the SkyCity Auckland, SkyCity Hamilton and SkyCity Queenstown casinos in New Zealand.
SkyCity noted that it is “disappointed that it has not met the standard to which it needs to hold itself”, resulting in the penalty filing, and that it wishes to engage constructively with the department to resolve the matters expeditiously.
The company also referred to its AML/CFT enhancement programme that has been in place since late 2021 to “address compliance systems and correct historical shortcomings”, which involves significant investment in people and technology, as well as reviews of its processes and systems to identify areas for improvement.
If the department’s claim is accepted, SkyCity would be subject to a civil penalty imposed by the court as set out in subpart three of the act, which is assessed as a maximum liability concerning these claims of “NZ$8m in aggregate”.
SkyCity added that it is “committed to continuing to uplift its processes and systems, particularly with respect to AML/CFT and host responsibility matters”.
In addition, the company noted that it would be inappropriate for it to comment any further on the proceedings at this stage.
