ASIC’s case against Star Entertainment is ‘very strong’: Legal experts

“This is sending the signal to companies in Australia that managers need to monitor what is going on in the company culture. You can’t just leave it up to management and say ‘Oh well, it’s their problem. They’ll fix it.’”

Macquarie University corporate governance professor Sheedy said ASIC had “ample evidence” of wrongdoing at Star.

“Sure, all the lawyers on the other side will be able to make counterarguments, but this seems like a very compelling argument to me.”

Ms Bird said ASIC’s focus on “a limited range of issues” in its statement of lawsuit increased its chances of success.

The regulator has failed in the past to try to litigate a long list of allegations against accused companies or individuals, generally not resulting in favorable sentences.

“But this time, there are clear lines on which they are going to run this factually…they could claim that the whole period was one terrible allegation, but by sticking to some compelling examples, they make a more compelling case,” Bird said. .

Mr. Harris agreed that the limited topics chosen by ASIC improve the chances of success.

ASIC claims focused on alleged breaches of the duties of administrators stemming from Star’s dealings with gambling club Suncity and its NAB bank and its response to a bombshell report from KPMG alleging a possible breach of anti-money laundering laws.

Ms Bird said the fact that disclosures of poor money laundering controls…