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Crown chief executive Ken Barton is likely to step down in the coming days, in the wake of a damning report into the Australian casino giant.

  • Mr Barton is understood to have indicated he intends to resign shortly following a report highly critical of his role
  • Two Crown board members resigned yesterday amid pressure from gambling regulators
  • Mr Barton met today with Crown chair Helen Coonan when he offered his resignation, the ABC understands

The Bergin Report this week found there was likely no future in the company for Mr Barton.
ABC News understands Mr Barton signalled he would resign during a meeting with Crown chair Helen Coonan earlier today.
It follows the resignation yesterday of two Crown board members, Michael Johnston and Guy Jalland.
Crown board member and former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou is also facing increasing pressure to resign.
Crown chairwoman Helen Coonan says the company will fix its “shortcomings” quickly.(AAP Image: Mick Tsikas)
Mr Barton’s decision to step down comes after increasing pressure from gambling regulators following a report critical of Crown, released this week.
An extensive investigation by the NSW gaming regulator found Crown was unsuitable to operate a licence for its new Sydney casino in its current form.
Its report outlined a litany of Crown failures, including money laundering, and said the company would have to undertake extensive cultural change in order to hold a licence to operate the new Barangaroo casino in future.
In an interview with ABC Radio National, NSW’s Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) chair Philip Crawford this morning said the pair must resign or be sacked if Crown wanted to hold the licence to operate Sydney’s second casino.
As the crisis deepened, this afternoon the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) said Mr Barton and director Andrew Demetriou would be asked to explain why they should remain associates of Crown Melbourne in Southbank.
VCGLR chief executive Catherine Myers said the commission had a number of investigations ongoing into Crown, but the first step was to demand an explanation for the findings of the Bergin report.
“Under the Victorian Casino Control Act, associates of the casino operator must be of good repute, having regard to character, honesty and integrity,” she said.
The resignations of Michael Johnston and Guy Jalland were welcomed by the NSW ILGA.

On By marabye

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