Australia corporate regulator "very alive" to allegations against Crown Resorts

The Australian corporate watchdog said on Friday it was "very alive" to alleged failures of corporate governance at casino giant Crown Resorts Ltd raised at a regulatory inquiry, and that it may open its own investigation.

An inquiry has heard Crown's directors and one-third owner James Packer admit to issuing misleading public statements and failing to act on warnings that could have stopped the company's staff being jailed in China in 2016. The inquiry has also heard that Crown's former chairman has declined to cooperate.

"We're certainly very alive to the matters that are being covered by that inquiry, we are watcing that carefully," ASIC's head of financial services and corporate regulation Cathie Armour told a parliamentary hearing.

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