The Star Entertainment Group Ltd (ASX: SGR) share price is charging higher today, up 3.7% to $3.63 per share.
The wider market is having a good run too, with the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) up 0.5% at time of writing. A second day of gains for the index.
Star Entertainment's share price boost today comes despite news that its executives could still face a public hearing.
What's all this about a public hearing?
The Star Entertainment share price has come under tremendous pressure over the past 9 days, tumbling a gut wrenching 30% from 6 October through to the end of trading this Tuesday, 12 October.
This, as my Foolish colleague Marc Sidarous noted earlier in the week, came "after a joint investigation by the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and 60 Minutes aired explosive allegations of money laundering, facilitating organised crime, fraud, and foreign interference at its casinos".
Since the closing bell on Tuesday, the Star Entertainment share price has rebounded 13%, though shares remain down 21% from Tuesday's close.
Today, investors appear to be shrugging of concerns of a potential public hearing on the legal matter, one that could pull in the company's executives.
Chris Sidoti served as the chairman of the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) from 2008–2016.
As the Australian Financial Review reported this morning, Sidoti believes that Adam Bell, the investigator reviewing Star's Sydney casino licence, could haul in the company's top brass for a public hearing over the damning allegations.
According to Sidoti:
The terms of reference on the authority website do not lay down any process for the review and so my assumption is that Mr Adam Bell, SC, can conduct it in any way he wishes. If he wants to hold public hearings, then it seems to me that he is free to do so. That's as it should be. It's not a matter for the Premier or the minister or even the authority.
An ILGA spokesperson contacted by the AFR for comment wasn't overly forthcoming, saying only, "If the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority receives any recommendation from Mr Bell that any public hearings are required, it will give such a recommendation appropriate consideration."
Star Entertainment share price snapshot
Having been hammered by the selloff earlier this week, the Star Entertainment share price remains down 3.5% year-to-date. By comparison the ASX 200 is up 10% so far in 2021.
Over the past month, Star's shares are down 14%.
