SYDNEY, (Reuters) – Shareholders in Australia’s Crown Resorts Ltd voted down the executive pay plans of the casino operator for a second consecutive year at their annual meeting. However, they declined a further option to oust the entire board.

The voting outcome reflects the precarious situation of the company https://www.reuters.com/business/australias-crown-resorts-warns-may-not-continue-going-concern-2021-09-09, 37% owned by billionaire James Packer, which has been embroiled in two years of scandal and humbling public inquiries. In what the company claims is an act of culture repair, it has replaced its majority of leadership in the last year.

Jane Halton, acting chair of the Crown board, stated that the organization will face uncertainty in the near future.

Crown was able to carry on the momentum of positive change thanks to the board’s significant renewal and the senior management team. She also noted that 10 out of 11 directors from the previous annual meeting were gone.

However, Crown shareholders holding 30.7% or more Crown shares voted in opposition to the company’s compensation report at the virtual meeting. This is higher than the 25 percent required for a vote to be considered a yes.

Because it was the second vote against in a row, Australian company law allowed shareholders to have a further vote about firing all board members. The vote was defeated by 96% of those voting for the “spill” motion.

Of Crown’s three casinos, its newest, in Sydney, had its gambling licence https://www.reuters.com/article/australia-crown-resorts-idUSL1N2KF0AU suspended just before the opening in December 2020 after an inquiry heard accounts of widespread money laundering and Packer’s inappropriate influence over the board.

This prompted inquiries about its other two casinos in Victoria and Western Australia. The Victorian government should decide before the end of the month whether Crown will be allowed to operate its largest-earning resort, while an inquiry into Western Australia is continuing.