Held in London from Tuesday 30th May – Thursday 1st June, GREF 2017 brought together over 70 regulators from Europe and beyond, to discuss and analyse the key challenges facing gambling regulators today.
Day one:
GREF chair Steve Brennan, CEO at the Isle of Man Gambling Commission, opened the conference. This was then followed by a keynote from Ellis Karels and Maja Maric of the Netherlands Central Bank on the importance of corporate culture in relation to regulatory oversight.
Next on the agenda was the Norwegian model for regulation of slot machines. The session was moderated by Linda Vøllestad Westbye of the Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Authority, with presentations from Rolf Sims (Norwegian Ministry of Culture), Jonny Engebø (Norwegian Gaming and Foundation Authority), and Jonathan Parke (Univeristy of Salford, Manchester).
Marja Appelman, CEO of the Netherlands Gaming Authority, moderated the next session, a panel debate on gambling self-exclusion systems. On the panel were Marjolein de Paepe (Belgian Gaming Commission), Michael Herborn (Danish Gambling Authority), and Lutz Köhler (Hessian Ministry of the Interior and Sports).
Cooperation in practice was the theme for the afternoon sessions. The session started with a keynote by Huw Watkins of the UK Intellectual Property Office, who then joined a panel debate moderated by Nick Tofiluk of the Great Britain Gambling Commission. Joining him on the panel were Robert Biegel (Netherlands Gaming Authority), Jorn Starck (Alderney Gambling Control Commission), and Claire Pinson (French Online Gaming Regulatory Authority).
Before Steve Brennan closed day one, Dale Fuga, President of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) held a brief presentation on the association’s work.
In the evening, delegates attended a gala dinner held at Painter’s Hall, kindly hosted by the Great Britain Gambling Commission.
Day two
The second day opened with a review of the latest developments in the EU, presented by Harrie Temmink of the European Commission.
The remainder of the morning sessions were allocated to testing houses, opened by presentations from John van Schaijk of GLI, then followed by Ben Verhoeff of NMI. Both presenters then joined a panel discussion moderated by Christina Thakor-Rankin of 1710 Gaming, on accreditation, product testing and certification. Joining them were Richard Bayliss (GB Gambling Commission) and Michele Magro (Malta Gaming Authority).
In the afternoon, the GREF working groups on eGambling and Technical Issues, InfoStat, and Responsible Gambling and Addiction convened, before reporting on the latest developments to GREF members. The conference then closed with the GREF Business Meeting.
For GREF members, individual presentations from the conference can be downloaded from the members only section of this website – click here.