Good morning, folks.

1. An inquiry has found that Crown Resorts is not suitable to “give effect to the Barangaroo restricted gaming licence” after money laundering revelations. The 18-month inquiry cumulated in recommendations that the company board go under a restructure to give authorities confidence that further possible breaches of anti-money laundering legislation would not occur. It also suggested regulators should have “very serious doubts” over three directors: CEO Ken Barton, former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou, and Packer family friend Michael Johnson. Here’s a funny revelation:

2. The Australian Medical Association is calling for the Holiday Inn quarantine hotel in Melbourne to be shut down after two further COVID-19 cases emerged at the facility yesterday. The two cases are a worker and a returned traveller. Three cases have now emerged at the Holiday Inn in less than a week, while five have been detected in less than a fortnight across three Victorian quarantine hotels.

3. Collingwood Football Club President Eddie McGuire announced his resignation yesterday, effective immediately. His sudden announcement comes after his comments regarding the release of a report into the club’s handling of racism as a “historic and proud day” drew widespread criticism. McGuire was set to step down at the end of 2021 — an announcement he made days after the club’s board received the report.

4. New Zealand’s central bank has implemented strict lending policies after property prices soared 20% last year. “We are now concerned about the risk a sharp correction in the housing market poses for financial stability,” Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand said, restricting how much homebuyers and particularly investors can borrow. While the RBA says Australia property price growth hasn’t reached unsustainable levels, it has indicated it would similarly intervene if debt entered dangerous territory.

5. The Lunar New Year is expected to kick off a wave of Chinese property investment that could see sales in Australia soar. Asia real estate company Juwai IQI chairman Georg Chmiel expects the festival to spark 20%-40% growth in foreign property investment enquires in Australia. Australian agents are looking to cash in on the interest, offering a range of season-specific incentives to foreign buyers in a bid to close deals.

6. While offices in most capitals around Australia are above 60% capacity, Sydney and Melbourne are lagging well behind. Melbourne workplaces are at 31% occupancy and those in Sydney are at 45%, according to the latest Property Council of Australia survey. Despite boasting of the benefits of everyone being in the same room, major employers are keeping work from home arrangements in place for now.

7. Furniture retailer Nick Scali announced it will pay back $3.6 million in JobKeeper subsidies received over the second half of 2020. The company’s statement came after it revealed $40.5 million in net profits over the same time period. Nick Scali joins a growing list of companies which have volunteered to return JobKeeper payments amid bumper profits – check out the list here.

8. Donald Trump’s Senate impeachment trial is happening right now. Bruce Castor Jr., one of former President Donald Trump’s defence lawyers in his second impeachment trial, explicitly acknowledged President Joe Biden’s victory and said the American people were “smart enough” to vote in a new administration. You can follow along at the liveblog here.

9. The EU looks like it could follow Australia’s lead and demand tech platforms pay to display news. Speaking to the Financial Times, Maltese MEP Alex Saliba said the Australian government’s approach had addressed the “acute bargaining power imbalances” between tech platforms and news publishers. “With their dominant market position in search, social media and advertising, large digital platforms create power imbalances and benefit significantly from news content,” he said. “I think it is only fair that they pay back a fair amount.”

10. GameStop has lost over $20 billion in market cap since the peak of the Wall Street Bets saga on January 27. Shares of the video game retailer continue to fall as Reddit traders back down from their short-squeeze attempts. Reddit traders are suing brokerages for limiting trading in popular stocks, arguing it led to significant losses.

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