\u201cThe investigations are credit negative because it opens Crown to reputational damage, as well as the potential for regulatory intervention and licensing issues,\u201d said the ratings agency. \u201cCrown has denied the allegations and vowed to cooperate with authorities in any investigations. We will continue to follow the situation as it unfolds and assess the materiality of any potential credit implications when more information becomes available.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nMoody’s has a Baa2 rating on debt issued by Crown Resorts with a \u201cstable\u201d outlook. Corporate debt with one of the three Ba ratings issued by the agency are \u201cjudged to have speculative elements and are subject to substantial credit risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aforementioned media reports that looked into Crown’s supposed ties to triad-connected junket operators also sparked a review by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (CLEI) to see if the gaming giant knowingly allowed criminals into the country so they could gamble.<\/p>\n
NSW Inquiry<\/h2>\n
The investigation by NSW authorities is being conducted under the auspices of Schedule 35 of the Casino Control Act of 1992. The crux of the review is aimed at ascertaining whether or not Crown management and executives are free of criminal influence.<\/p>\n
That legislation was passed to provide for the establishment of a casino in NSW’s Barangaroo district. Crown doesn’t have a gaming property there, but the company broke ground on the $1.49 billion Crown Sydney project in the area in 2017, which is expected to be completed in 2021.<\/p>\n
The investigations are taking tolls on shares of Crown and Lawrence Ho’s Melco Resorts & Entertainment. The New York-listed shares of Melco, trading on the NASDAQ under the ticker \u201cMLCO,\u201d are lower by 15.51 percent this month<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crown Resorts, the Australian casino operator mired in controversy because of alleged ties to junket runners with connections to organized crime, faces another potential problem: mounting investigations into the company’s business practices could prompt downgrades of its corporate credit rating. Last week, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority in the Australian state of New South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":111879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,60],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Crown Resorts PR Woes Could Lead to a Credit Downgrade<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n