Crown Resorts Pursues Excess Insurer Over $73 Million Class Action Settlement Recovery

Crown Resorts has commenced legal proceedings against its excess insurer, RiverStone International, in the Supreme Court of Victoria, seeking coverage for a portion of a $72.5 million shareholder class action settlement that the casino operator’s primary insurer has declined to fund. The dispute centers on the extent to which Crown’s insurance program responds to liabilities arising from the company’s anti-money laundering failures and related regulatory misconduct.

Background to the Settlement

The underlying class action was brought on behalf of shareholders who acquired or held interests in Crown shares between December 2014 and October 2020. In September 2025, the Federal Court approved a $72.5 million settlement in the proceeding, which alleged that Crown had inadequate systems and processes for ensuring compliance with its anti-money laundering obligations, and that disclosures to the market regarding these deficiencies were misleading.

The settlement followed a series of regulatory findings against Crown, including the outcomes of public inquiries in Victoria and New South Wales that examined the company’s governance, licensing suitability, and exposure to money laundering risks. These inquiries ultimately contributed to significant structural changes at the company, which is now wholly owned by Blackstone.

The Coverage Dispute

According to reports, Crown’s primary insurance policy has already absorbed part of the settlement, but the layer of loss exceeding that primary coverage remains unresolved. Crown contends that RiverStone International, as its excess insurer, is obliged to respond to the uninsured portion of the settlement, while the insurer has refused to indemnify the company for that component.

The litigation will require the court to consider standard but consequential questions in insurance law, including whether the circumstances giving rise to the class action claims fall within the policy’s coverage triggers, whether any exclusions apply, and how the settlement amount should be allocated across the relevant layers of cover.

The case arrives amid heightened scrutiny of directors and officers and management liability insurance in Australia, as securities class action settlements continue to reach substantial figures. The Crown settlement itself ranks among the larger shareholder recoveries in Australian history, following the $125 million settlement approved in an earlier class action against the company in 2022 relating to conduct involving Crown employees in China.

For insurers, the outcome may clarify the treatment of regulatory and compliance-related claims under excess policies, particularly where the underlying misconduct spans multiple policy years and is addressed through a negotiated settlement rather than a court judgment. For corporate policyholders, the dispute underscores the importance of understanding how conduct exclusions and notice provisions operate across primary and excess layers when large-scale litigation risk materializes.