SkyCity has confirmed it has been penalised $4.16 million for historic breaches of anti-money laundering and terrorism financing obligations.
The proceedings, filed in February, were for non-compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 by SkyCity Casino Management Limited (SCML).
SCML is a subsidiary of SkyCity and holds its casino operator’s licence for operations in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown.
It came after a review found the casino had made several failures between February 2018 and March 2023.
In an announcement to the NZX today, the casino operator confirmed the High Court had imposed a civil penalty of $4.16m which is to be paid to the Department of Internal Affairs within 15 days.
Chief executive Jason Walbridge said SkyCity is aware as a casino operator that it has a responsibility to “combat money laundering and terrorism financing”.
“This is a responsibility we take very seriously. We will continue to upgrade our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing systems to ensure we meet both our regulatory obligations and the expectations of the communities in which we operate.”
John Sneyd, general manager for regulatory services at the Department of Internal Affairs, said it was pleased to be able to reach a settlement.
“Casinos can be an attractive way for criminals to launder proceeds of crime. We cannot take the risk that criminals might choose New Zealand casinos as a way of cleaning their dirty money. Casinos must have robust processes in place to protect them from misuse.”
“We are satisfied that SkyCity admitted responsibility for their significant failings alongside their continued improvement to meet their AML/CFT obligations, to make sure breaches like these don’t happen again.”
In a separate case, SkyCity shut its Auckland casino floor for five days earlier this month after it was found to be in breach of its host responsibility programme.
It followed a complaint from a customer, with a subsequent investigation identifying 23 incidents during which they were able to gamble continuously without detection by SkyCity’s technological system.
