New Delhi, June 26 -- ADELAIDE - When South Australia's gambling regulator announced last Thursday that it had reached an in-principle settlement with SkyCity Adelaide, agreeing to a AU$21 million fine, the company's shares on the Australian Securities Exchange rose 14.63 percent. That reaction was not confusion. It was relief.

The settlement, signed June 19 by SkyCity Adelaide Pty Limited and its New Zealand-based parent SkyCity Entertainment Group with the South Australian Liquor and Gambling Commissioner, closes a regulatory saga that began accumulating in 2016 - the year a retired Supreme Court judge would later identify as the start of the casino's most serious anti-money laundering failures. What the market priced on settlement day...