Australian casino firm Star suspended from stock exchange

A sign stands outside The Star casino and event centre in Sydney on September 2, 2024. – Troubled resort and casino operator Star Entertainment was temporarily delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange on September 2 after failing to post its annual financial results. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

Sydney, Australia — Troubled resort and casino operator Star Entertainment was temporarily delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday after failing to post its annual financial results.

The measure — which is usually temporary — comes as the firm tries to recover from a series of scandals over lax safeguards against money laundering.

The Sydney-based stock market said Star was “suspended from quotation” for “not lodging the relevant periodic report by the due date”.

The firm failed to present financial year annual results on August 30.

READ: Trading in Australian casino firm halted after damning report

Trading in Star shares was halted on Friday after a regulator said it was still “unsuitable” to hold a casino license.

The New South Wales Independent Casino Commission earlier published a scathing report about the firm’s casino operations, saying it had not done enough to rectify a culture that allowed serious criminal infiltration.

“The Star entities are presently falling short of what is required for suitability,” the latest in a string of watchdog investigations reported.

The firm has previously been accused of not adequately policing criminal infiltration and doing little to vet the sources of money coming into the business.

Watchdogs found that one patron, Xiangmo Huang — a Chinese real estate billionaire barred by the Australian government for being an agent of Chinese influence — had ploughed more than a billion dollars into Star over several years.

Another high-rolling patron was allegedly involved in human trafficking.