An important law firm that is pursuing to assist Victoria’s Royal Commission into its Crown Resorts’ inquiry seems to have advised the gambling company on its new Barangaroo casino project. The law firm has also worked for the second-biggest shareholder of the Australian casino operator.
These findings have prompted both a prominent industry expert and the anti-gambling opposition in the state of Victoria to raise concerns about the potential conflict of interest of the law firm.
As mentioned above, Corrs Chambers Westgarth is one of the law firms that have been willing to provide solicitors to the investigation into the suitability of Crown Resorts to keep its casino operating licence in Victoria. For years, Premier Daniel Andrews has been refusing to hold an investigation into Crown Resorts after the Australian gambling giant but, eventually, in February he said he would back any measure recommended by the Royal Commission, including taking away Crown Resorts’ operating licence.
The law firm published a statement on its website confirming that it worked with the Australian gambling giant, advising it on elements of its bid to establish a casino venue in the state of New South Wales (NSW). The probe into the new Sydney-based property of Crown Resorts pushed local authorities to closely check the company’s operations, with Commissioner Bergin’s report finding the gambling firm unfit to hold a casino license in NSW because it facilitated money laundering activities in its venues.
Corrs’ Relationship with Blackstone Group Puts Law Firm’s Neutrality under Question
Currently, Blackstone Group Inc, a private equity firm based in New York and the second-biggest shareholder of Crown Resorts, is also one of the main clients of Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
Casino industry experts say Blackstone may purchase some of the shares in Crown Resorts that belong to James Packer in case the billionaire investor decides to dispose of some of his assets in the company due to some reform requirements set out by the gambling regulatory body in New South Wales, and the operator faces probes in the states of Victoria and Western Australia.
According to information published on Corrs’ website, the firm has worked in collaboration with Blackstone on some of its biggest and most complex transactions in Australia, valued at more than AU$7 billion. The law firm also revealed it had also assisted the company with some property deals in the states of NSW, Victoria and South Australia. The law firm’s relationship with Blackstone has been exactly the reason why a concern regarding a possible conflict of interest emerged.
Charles Livingstone, a gambling regulation expert at Monash University, it would be really bad if the Andrews Government chose Corrs Chambers Westgarth to provide the local Royal Commission with legal advice on issues associated with Crown Resorts. According to the academic, the relationship between the law firm and Blackstone, which had an interest in the Australian gambling giant keeping both its Victorian casino licence and its share value, would constitute a powerful conflict of interest with any possible position of Corrs as a Royal Commission’s advisor.
- Author
Daniel Williams
