Bell said the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) should take action against Star Sydney for the breaches and impose independent requirements on its board as well as tighten the rules around meetings and duties.

The NICC is not expected to shut down the group’s flagship Pyrmont casino despite the findings, as it recently moved to extend the term of its special manager until March. The Star was due to reveal what’s expected to be dismal results for the 2024 financial year on Friday, with The Australian Financial Review reporting it may even issue a $1.4 billion writedown.

Bell’s inquiry considered whether The Star can properly fund its operations. He said his findings were “not altered” by sealed evidence presented to the inquiry about the group’s financial position.

NICC chief commissioner Philip Crawford said on Friday that Bell’s findings had validated the regulator’s concerns, but he needed more time to decide whether to shut it down. The commission published the first two volumes of Bell’s findings on Friday.

“The Bell report reveals a company that had not moved quickly enough to address the governance and cultural concerns raised in the first Bell report. It has only very recently turned its attention to dealing with challenges that should have been prioritised earlier,” Crawford said.

The Star received a copy of the report on Friday, one month after Bell issued it to the regulator. The regulator moved to extend the tenure of Nick Weeks, The Star’s special manager and current casino licence holder, until March after receiving the report.

The Star will be forced to pay for the $3 million inquiry in addition to Weeks’ ongoing monthly salary of $75,000.

The licence decision does not matter if the group cannot find a way to continue operating solvently. The Star’s share price has halved over the past year and its leaders have already had to approach investors for equity twice. The company is $450 million in debt.

The Australian Financial Review reported the group’s newly minted boss, Steve McCann, will write down its assets, including the new casino precinct Queen’s Wharf Brisbane which opened on Thursday, as part of a mammoth cost-cutting exercise after poor trading and increased regulatory costs blew out its bottom line.

The $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf precinct is a joint venture with Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium. Investment sources who were not authorised to speak publicly said The Star would write off all its equity in the long-awaited precinct in a last-ditch attempt to right its books.

This masthead revealed this month that the NSW government had pushed back its mandatory carded play deadline by one month to give the struggling casino time to ready for the complicated transition, which would have prevented gamblers from using more than $1000 cash. Instead, The Star has until October 19 to upgrade its machines and will be able to accept $5000 in daily cash transactions for another year.

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