Compliance Updates
The Art of Staying Compliant w/ Greg Ponesse, Chief Revenue Officer at Compliable
How can operators and suppliers best ensure that they stay on track of ever-changing rules and regulation once they are live in a market?
Fundamentally, it’s about keeping a finger on the pulse of the market and curating a broad network of industry sources to ensure that you are up to date on any new developments. Industry press releases, newsletters and magazines are all excellent places to begin, and getting into the habit of checking regulator websites on a monthly basis is a good next step. In general, regulators maintain open communication with the public concerning new regulations; as it’s rare to have a dedicated contact person from any given agency checking in to ensure that you’ve kept up with any updates, however, it will still fall to you to make sure that you’re keeping current with any changes. Ultimately, it is always the responsibility of the licensee to ensure that it is compliant and, if mistakes are made, there are rarely, if ever, any get-out-of-jail-free cards.
Additionally, building a network of compliance professionals that you can reach out to on short notice can be a huge help, as urgent situations can arise without warning and require you to react quickly. It’s not always possible for every company to field an in-house compliance team that can deal with every request and change, even if that would be very preferable, so having experts just a call away is always a smart choice.
Compared with entering a market, how time consuming is maintaining compliance for teams?
While entering a new market is complex, maintaining compliance is equally important, and introduces its own challenges of minutiae and attention to detail. Renewal windows need to be carefully monitored, new regulations need to be constantly observed, and required updates need to be passed on to regulators in a timely manner.
These challenges are true no matter the size of the company in question. A small company could be licensed in 16 regions, with one person managing the process for all those markets. In such a case, that one person would probably need to spend a decent portion of their work days just to ensure that compliance was being maintained across all those markets, even if the individual number of licenses was low. A large company operating in fewer locations, on the other hand, might have thousands of employees and licenses to maintain for that location, and not one of those employees or licenses could be allowed to fall through the cracks. Each license would need to be tracked, and each renewal dealt with in a timely fashion. In either case, maintenance of compliance should be expected to take up a sizable amount of time.
Are there common mistakes that occur and what impact can this have on operations?
At the risk of sounding reductive, the most common mistakes are not filling out the application correctly or failing to include the correct documentation. Attention to detail matters so much in the process and taking the time to parse what can often be very complex sets of instructions is critical.
No matter the type of licensure, there is always going to be a large amount of information and documentation required, and making sure that you have all of that information and documentation at the ready before you begin is also critical to your success in the process.
Most simply, you could equate the process to that of buying a house. Everything needs to be in order before you place your bid, or it will fall through and someone else will likely swoop in and take the house right out from under you. It’s more or less the same when a company is going through the licensing process. If everything isn’t in order, you might have to wait a long time after submitting your initial application just to be told that something is wrong or missing. Once those issues are corrected, you would have to resubmit the application, starting from the back of the queue again. This would obviously delay the issuing of a license in an industry where first-mover advantage is crucial.
How can tech solutions help teams stay compliant once they are live in a market?
There are many ways in which such solutions can assist with compliance. Our platform, for example, allows you to input all of your information and upload all your documents exactly once, and to then output that information to multiple forms at the same time. It also tracks the application status, which can be very challenging to handle on your own if you are active in numerous regions or have a lot of employees. Furthermore, it reminds you of expiration dates, so you can be well prepared and organized when the time comes for renewals. Finally, because we store your information, you are also not required to re-enter all of your information year after year, making the renewal process much more efficient; you will only have to update information if the regulator has changed their forms, otherwise, everything will slot right in where it belongs.
We put an immense amount of effort into ensuring that our forms and other documents are kept up to date with all regulatory requirements and guidelines. Thus, when you use our service to generate forms for any application or renewal, you can be assured that you are filing the correct forms, and that all the questions on that form have been filled out correctly. In short, using our platform ensures that compliance teams can focus on other important tasks while resting safe in the knowledge that their licensure forms have been completed correctly, and that their licenses and renewals are being effectively tracked.
Compliance Updates
574 Slot Machines, Bingo Halls and Online Betting Modules were Destroyed by Coljuegos
The Illegal Operations Control Department destroyed 574 gambling items that had been seized because they were operating without authorization in departments such as Cundinamarca, Atlántico, Valle del Cauca, among others, and which stopped transferring around $63.545 million to the health system.
“The destroyed items were valued at around $169 million and belonged to criminal structures that were dedicated to operating games of chance and luck without authorization and without paying the respective monopoly rents,” said Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos.
Among the destroyed items were electronic slot machines, bingo chairs, roulette wheels, poker tables, Keno and online betting modules, each of them composed of computers, CPUs, televisions, ticket machines, among others.
“In total, we have completed 7,934 destroyed items, valued at more than $1.5 billion. Due to these illegal activities, the health system has lost more than $200 billion in recent years, resources that would have allowed us to serve more Colombians under the subsidized regime,” said the president of the entity.
Hincapié also said that in the coming days, Coljuegos will continue destroying another 117 electronic slot machines, 350 bingo elements (chairs, tables and boards), 8 poker tables and 252 sports betting modules.
“Never before has an administration attacked illegality in the industry so strongly. We are doing this at the behest of our president Gustavo Petro, who has always asked us to fight corruption and to decisively strike the mafias that operate unauthorized games in various regions of the country,” said Hincapié.
It is worth mentioning that illegal gambling organizations in Colombia are failing to pay the State around $1.5 billion annually for exploitation rights, resources that could be allocated to the health of low-income citizens.
Compliance Updates
GAMING POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE – NOTIFICATION OF SEATS WITH TERMS EXPIRING DECEMBER 31, 2024
The Gaming Policy Advisory Committee (GPAC) is a ten-member committee established pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 19817 to provide advisory recommendations to the California Gambling Control Commission (Commission). Its membership, as appointed by the Commission, includes equal part appointments from the public as well as the cardroom industry.
The GPAC has the following five highlighted seats that have a term limit ending on December 31, 2024.
PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES:
Category A: An employee from the Bureau of Gambling Control (BGC), Department of Justice (1 seat)
Category B: A representative from an agency or nonprofit concerned with problem gambling and/or gambling addiction (1 seat)
Category F: A representative affiliated with local law enforcement from a local government where an approved ordinance allows legalized gaming (1 seat)
Category G: A professional with an accounting or business background and not currently affiliated with a California legalized gambling entity (1 seat)
Category H: A general member-at-large not currently affiliated with any California legalized gambling entity (1 seat)
INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES:
Category C: A licensee, agent, or employee from a Third-Party Provider of Proposition Player Services (1 seat)
Category D: A licensee, agent, or employee from an actively licensed cardroom with 25 tables or more in operation (2 seats; 1 seat vacant ¹)
Category E: A licensee, agent, or employee from an actively licensed cardroom with less than 25 tables in operation (2 seats; 1 seat vacant)
The Commission is currently accepting applications through November 1, 2024, from all eligible applicants for the GPAC seats in the following categories: C, D1, E1, G¹ and H.
The GPAC Application and Selection Process can be found on the Commission’s website at www.cgcc.ca.gov. Applications should be submitted electronically to [email protected]. Interviews will be scheduled shortly after the application deadline (mid-November).
GPAC’s mission is:
The Commission is currently accepting applications through November 1, 2024, from all eligible applicants for the GPAC seats in the following categories: C, D1, E1, G¹ and H.
The GPAC Application and Selection Process can be found on the Commission’s website at www.cgcc.ca.gov. Applications should be submitted electronically to [email protected]. Interviews will be scheduled shortly after the application deadline (mid-November).
GPAC’s mission is:
“Provide advisory recommendations to the California Gambling Control Commission concerning matters of controlled gaming regulatory policy and other relevant gambling related issues, with special attention to guaranteeing the integrity of gambling operations and to deal effectively with problem gambling.”
The GPAC currently meets every eight weeks. GPAC meetings will be held via Zoom through the end of 2025 whereupon meetings will have to be a combination of in person and via Zoom. Audio recordings of previous meetings can be found on the Commission’s website.
The GPAC is an asset when addressing matters of importance for the cardroom industry. GET INVOLVED, whether through attending the GPAC’s public meetings, submitting an application for consideration of appointment to the GPAC, or by simply sending in comments for the GPAC’s consideration and discussion via the email address below.
“Provide advisory recommendations to the California Gambling Control Commission concerning matters of controlled gaming regulatory policy and other relevant gambling related issues, with special attention to guaranteeing the integrity of gambling operations and to deal effectively with problem gambling.”
The GPAC currently meets every eight weeks. GPAC meetings will be held via Zoom through the end of 2025 whereupon meetings will have to be a combination of in person and via Zoom. Audio recordings of previous meetings can be found on the Commission’s website.
The GPAC is an asset when addressing matters of importance for the cardroom industry.
Compliance Updates
GiG grows regulated market footprint with new B2B supplier authorisation for Peru
Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has been awarded an authorisation and registration (homologation) for Peru, officially allowing it to partner with operators based in the newly regulated Latin American market, as GiG continues to grow its regulated market presence with over 29 complex regulated markets now available globally, on its revolutionary iGaming technology.
The accreditation process, which opened its doors earlier this year, marks an early entry for GiG that will allow it to serve a market expected to grow post regulation by up to 104%, up from €194m to €397m, in gross gaming revenue (GGR) over the next three years, according to H2 Gambling Data.
This new authorisation from the Peruvian authority, granted to GiG by Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo de Perú (MINCETUR) , and covers its award winning PAM, as GiG continues a long-standing commitment to regulated market expansion, reaffirming’s its position as a global leader for growth in highly regulated markets.
GiG’s Peruvian presence gained prominence with the announcement of the launch of Betsson Group’s Inkabet brand, in July, expanding on the successful partnership between the two, in regulated markets around the world.
GiG is continuing to expand its presence in global regulated markets, and across Latin America, with its innovative iGaming platform, as its powerful, secure, and scalable platform offers operators significant opportunities for exponential revenue growth, with a suite of dynamic localisation features. Peruvian operators will benefit from GiG’s integration with leading content and payment providers, with advanced AI tools, DataX and LogicX, enhancing decision-making and rule-building processes. This balance of cutting-edge tools and best-in-class features have proven highly effective in increasing player acquisition and retention, highlighting GiG’s competitive edge in complex regulatory environments like Peru.
Claudio Caruana, General Counsel for GiG says; “The addition of the Peruvian authorisation to our ever expanding list of supported regulated markets continues to demonstrate the focus we at GiG have placed on legislation, providing the framework essential for sustainable and prosperous growth within the online igaming industry. We are delighted to be fully prepared to power new and potential partners with our award winning technology in the area.”
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