Australia's Star Entertainment faces second class action suit over compliance

Guest rooms at a hotel above Sydney's Star Casino complex are seen illuminated at night
Guest rooms at a hotel above Sydney's Star Casino complex are seen illuminated at night, February 15, 2016. Australia's No. 2 casino company, Star Entertainment Ltd said first-half net profit slumped by more than a third as an unusually large number of high-end gamblers won games, but said its underlying trading volume was growing. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Australian casino operator Star Entertainment Group Ltd (SGR.AX) on Monday said it faces a second class action lawsuit over allegations of failure to comply with disclosure requirements regarding anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing rules.

The class action, filed by law firm Maurice Blackburn, alleges that between March 29, 2016 and March 16, 2022, Star made misleading representations about its systems and processes for compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations, Star said in a statement.

The lawsuit also accuses Star of failing to disclose relevant information to the market and "conducted its affairs contrary to the interests of the members of The Star as a whole", according to the statement.

Star said it will defend itself against the class action, adding that the claim was "substantially similar" to the class action filed by another law firm Slater & Gordon (SGH.AX) in March earlier this year.

The Brisbane-based casino firm's shares have dropped 19% in a year marked with investigations and scrutiny of its operations over its alleged failure to prevent money laundering and criminal activity.

Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Paul Simao

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