Australia: Crown Resorts Sues Insurer It Says Refused to Help Cover A$72.5 Million Settlement
- Crown Resorts is taking one of its insurers to court.
- Crown filed the case in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
- One point is easy to miss.
Crown Resorts is taking one of its insurers to court. The Australian casino operator says RiverStone International has refused to pay under insurance policies that Crown believes should help cover an A$72.5 million settlement with shareholders, The Age reported.
Crown filed the case in the Supreme Court of Victoria. Australian legal news site Lawyerly reported the lawsuit on September 22, 2026.
One point is easy to miss. The A$72.5 million is the total Crown agreed to pay shareholders, not the amount it is seeking from RiverStone. The exact amount Crown believes it is owed was not disclosed in the documents The Age reviewed.
Insurance in layers
Crown carried directors and officers insurance, according to The Age. That kind of insurance can cover shareholder claims and protect directors and executives, subject to the policy terms.
That cover was stacked in layers. The first, or primary, layer came from AIG, which paid A$7.5 million before it ran out. Above it sat excess insurance layers, designed to provide additional coverage above the underlying limits, subject to their terms and exclusions.
RiverStone held 50% of the risk on the fourth and fifth excess layers but has refused to pay, the newspaper reported. That share applies to those layers only. It does not mean RiverStone is responsible for half the settlement.
In its court filing, Crown claims RiverStone and other insurers told it to act as though it was “uninsured” while it negotiated with shareholders. It is not clear why. Crown is seeking payment under the excess policies, plus interest, The Age said. Casino.org reported the same details.
These are Crown’s allegations. They do not establish that RiverStone is legally required to pay.
What the shareholders claimed
The original case, Greg Lieberman v Crown Resorts Limited, was a class action, which Victoria’s courts call a group proceeding. It was brought for people who bought or held Crown shares between December 11, 2014, and October 18, 2020, according to the court.
It alleged that Crown made misleading statements about its compliance with anti-money laundering laws, particularly in its VIP international business and its junket program. Junket operators are businesses that arrange trips for high-spending gamblers.
The claim followed a fall in Crown’s share price after the company announced on October 19, 2020, that AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial crimes regulator, had opened a formal enforcement investigation into Crown Melbourne. Law firm Maurice Blackburn filed the case that December, The Age reported.
Crown settled without making any admissions of wrongdoing, the newspaper said. It is no longer listed on the stock exchange; U.S. private equity firm Blackstone bought it for about A$8.9 billion in 2022.
Junkets have also come under pressure in Macau. An IMF report this year noted the “regulatory-driven exit” of junket operators and VIP gaming promoters there between 2022 and 2024, and the fund expects VIP gaming to remain a relatively small share of casino revenue.
How the settlement is being paid
Justice Nichols approved the settlement in a judgment dated September 19, 2025, and revised on September 23, court records show. The two sides had reached an in-principle deal in March 2025 and signed a settlement deed on May 9, 2025.
Crown agreed to pay in three installments: A$20 million, which had already been paid when the judgment was issued; A$25 million due by May 11, 2026; and A$27.5 million due by May 10, 2027, according to the judgment.
That schedule is Crown’s obligation to shareholders. It is a separate question from what, if anything, RiverStone must pay Crown.
What happens next
As of The Age’s September 28 report, RiverStone had not yet filed its defense. RiverStone declined to comment, and Crown did not respond to requests for comment, the newspaper said.
Featured image: Crown Towers and the Crown casino complex on the Yarra River in Melbourne, in September 2011. Photo: John Torcasio / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
