Crown sues RiverStone in Victoria over A$72.5m shareholder settlement cover

Crown Resorts has commenced legal proceedings against insurer RiverStone International in the Supreme Court of Victoria, claiming RiverStone refused to contribute to the A$72.5 million shareholder class action settlement approved in September 2025. Crown says RiverStone held 50% of the risk on the fourth and fifth excess layers of its directors' and officers' (D&O) insurance tower; AIG paid A$7.5 million from the primary layer before that layer was exhausted. The remaining A$27.5 million is due to shareholders by 10 May 2027 under the settlement deed.

What Crown has filed and why the action matters for insurers and operators

Crown Resorts filed the claim on 29 September 2026, alleging RiverStone and other excess insurers refused to pay under policies Crown says cover the class action settlement in Lieberman v Crown Resorts Ltd. The filing seeks payment under the excess policies plus interest. Reports differ on the sum Crown seeks from RiverStone: InsuranceAsia News cites A$22.5 million while The Sydney Morning Herald did not disclose a precise figure in its reporting.

The dispute tests how far an insurer in a run-off or legacy role must contribute when a multi-layered D&O tower is tapped to meet shareholder claims. Crown says RiverStone is a run-off insurer that held 50% of the fourth and fifth layers; RiverStone has not yet filed a defence and declined to comment to the press. Crown did not respond to requests for comment from The Sydney Morning Herald.

The settlement Crown is still paying and its timetable

The underlying group proceeding, Lieberman v Crown Resorts Ltd, was filed by Maurice Blackburn in December 2020 on behalf of people who bought or held Crown shares between 11 December 2014 and 18 October 2020. It alleged Crown misled the market about its compliance with anti‑money‑laundering and counter‑terrorism financing laws, particularly in its VIP international business and junket programme, and breached continuous disclosure obligations.

A settlement deed dated 9 May 2025 set Crown's total payout at A$72.5 million, to be paid in three instalments:

• A$20 million already paid when the settlement was approved;

• A$25 million due by 11 May 2026;

• A$27.5 million due by 10 May 2027.

Justice Nichols approved the settlement on 19 September 2025, describing it as "a fair and reasonable compromise" and recording a net present value of about A$69.8 million. The deed requires no security for later instalments; if Crown defaults the remaining payments become immediately due and group members' claims survive.

Insurance tower, the primary payment and the contested excess layers

Crown held multiple layers of D&O insurance. The primary insurer, American International Group (AIG), paid A$7.5 million before its layer was exhausted. Crown's filing says RiverStone held half of the risk on the fourth and fifth excess layers and has refused to pay its share of the settlement. Crown's court documents allege insurers instructed Crown to "act as though uninsured" during settlement negotiations; that instruction is central to Crown's legal argument.

D&O liability policies commonly require an insured to behave as a prudent uninsured party when settling so insurers will not face inflated payments. Crown contends it followed the insurers' direction and negotiated the settlement on that basis. RiverStone's forthcoming defence will be material: it could dispute the settlement's reasonableness, its own consent, allocation of loss across the tower, or whether the claim falls within the policies at all. At present only Crown's allegations are on the public record.

RiverStone's profile and the run-off market context

RiverStone International specialises in acquiring and managing legacy or run-off insurance liabilities. It was founded in 1999 as the run-off arm of Fairfax Financial; its international business was acquired by funds managed by CVC Capital Partners in 2021. The filings and reports do not state whether RiverStone originally underwrote Crown's policies or later acquired the exposure as part of a legacy portfolio.

Run-off insurers typically buy blocks of closed liabilities and allocate them across legacy layers. That business model is why Crown's suit draws attention: it will clarify whether entities holding run-off positions must fund post‑settlement instalments in matters that crystallise long after the conduct at issue.

Crown's broader regulatory and litigation fallout

The class action settlement is part of a long tail of regulatory and civil costs stemming from conduct that concluded in 2020. Crown has already agreed two shareholder settlements in Australia: the A$72.5 million settlement in Lieberman and a separate A$125 million Federal Court settlement approved in April 2022. Regulators have also imposed substantial fines. The largest was a A$450 million penalty ordered by the Federal Court in July 2023 for breaches of anti‑money‑laundering laws, a penalty recorded by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

Justice Nichols' approval of the 2025 settlement noted Crown's challenging financial statements, including "substantial ongoing trading losses, negative operating cashflows and declining net assets," and referenced multiple regulatory fines on Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth since mid‑2022. Those facts explain why a non‑paying excess layer forces Crown or parent company Blackstone to find cash: the companies' finances have limited spare liquidity.

Implications for insurers, operators and the Australian casino sector

The suit will be monitored by underwriters and operators with open regulatory files. If excess layers successfully resist payment, the cost burden shifts to Crown and Blackstone. The litigation also serves as a reminder that regulatory enforcement and shareholder litigation can generate years of follow‑on costs that affect policy pricing and insurer appetite for exposures in the sector. Rival operator Star Entertainment's own regulatory difficulties have already signalled continued scrutiny of the Australian casino market.

What to watch next

Key developments to track are RiverStone's defence filing in the Supreme Court of Victoria and any court findings on whether insurers instructed Crown to negotiate on the basis it was uninsured. The quantum RiverStone will be ordered to pay, if any, and the court's view on allocation across the D&O tower will set a precedent for how legacy and excess positions are treated after large regulatory or shareholder losses.

"If insurers told Crown to negotiate on the footing it was uninsured, Crown will say it did what it was told and settled at a figure a judge later called fair and reasonable," Crown's filings argue.

Readers interested in regulatory context can consult AUSTRAC's prior enforcement action and the Lieberman v Crown Resorts Ltd court documents for the settlement terms and instalment schedule. For coverage of how this affects underwriting and the run‑off market, follow changes in market appetite among speciality insurers and run‑off managers.