Members of the European Parliament and top online gaming operators will attend October 19 roundtable discussions

The critical topic of responsible gambling will be front and centre of European gambling discussions on October 19, when the influential trade body European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) holds its Responsible Gaming Day in Brussels.

With the European Parliament´s final vote on its draft Report on Online Gambling due in November, the event is expected to attract a substantial audience, bringing together EU and national officials, regulators, experts and academia, and stakeholders representing the broad spectrum of the European gaming industry and player representatives.

The Report is widely expected to influence the European Commission´s follow up to the Green Paper consultation.

Among the experts involved is Andrew Beveridge, Chief Executive of the independent player protection and industry standards organisation eCOGRA, who recently chaired the process to develop a CEN Workshop Agreement for Responsible Remote Gambling Measures (CWA 16259:2011).

"Given the current interest by regulators, operators and other industry stakeholders in further developing common standards for player protection, this is an ideal time to reflect on the success of the CEN Workshop Agreement initiative, which involved over 30 participants from trade associations, licensing authorities, operators and leading academic experts on gambling behaviour," he said.

Beveridge added that already this year over 30 tier one European operators and software suppliers, including the EGBA Members and eCOGRA Safe and Fair sealholders, have voluntarily elected to implement the 134 evidence-based measures developed by CEN aimed at ensuring player protection and responsible operator behaviour, and are being annually audited to demonstrate full compliance.

Based on audit evidence and player feedback, it is evident that these measures are proving highly effective, and as the first Pan-European agreement aimed at providing a high level of player protection in the European Union, this will provide a valuable contribution to any further efforts to develop common standards.

Joachim Haeusler, Responsible Gaming Manager at bwin.party digital entertainment, said that for the effective prevention of gambling-related problems it is important that operators use clearly defined measures and are audited regularly for compliance.

"Being among the first operators to adopt the CWA 16259:2011 measures, bwin.party urges all responsible operators – private as well as state-owned – to adhere to clear player protection measures that are properly audited to ensure a safe gaming environment ," he said.

Malcolm Harbour MEP, Conservative Chairman of the European Parliament of the internal market and consumer protection committee, added: "Our recently adopted report on online gambling has shown that there is a clear support for common standards for consumer protection at EU level. These are a positive step towards establishing a single market regime for responsible and safe gambling and they will benefit consumers, industry as well as the Single Market."

Dr. Gerhard Bühringer, Professor for Addiction Research at the Technische Universität in Dresden said that the CWA 16259:2011 measures provide an important first step towards better protection of vulnerable gamblers and the prevention of underage gambling.

He added that protection measures should be further discussed, and – in addition to external and independent regular audits for all public and private gambling opportunities – a scientific analysis and evaluation under everyday conditions is essential to determine the efficacy of all protection measures, as a basis for possible further improvements.

Following the roundtable discussions, Tex Rees, who manages eCOGRA’s initiatives in responsible gambling and the organisation’s disputes mediation service, will be presenting a live demonstration of the internet tools that are available to identify and protect vulnerable players.

Her demo will illustrate to delegates how the CWA 16259:2011 measures have been implemented by the EGBA Members, demonstrating how the measures work to ensure player protection and responsible operator behaviour, how the requirements are regularly audited, and the results of recent studies on the effectiveness of the measures.

www.responsiblegamingday.eu/html/rgd-programme.html

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Betclic, a well-established internet casino, poker and sportsbook company in the Betclic Everest Group, has successfully achieved the tough professional standards required to gain accreditation with the independent standards and player protection organisation eCOGRA.

Announcing the successful accreditation, eCOGRA chief executive Andrew Beveridge said that Betclic joins an elite group of 146 online gambling sites that have demonstrated a practical commitment to higher standards of operational conduct, fair gaming, integrity and player service through the organisation’s Safe and Fair seal, which Betclic is now entitled to display on its websites.

"The Betclic management is highly experienced and well established in the industry," Beveridge said this week. "Betclic was the founding company when the Mangas Gaming Group, which subsequently became the Betclic Everest Group, was formed.

"It has also achieved compliance with the European Gaming and Betting Association’s (EGBA) standards, and it is therefore not surprising that the management met all of our requirements despite a rigorous on-site inspection and review process."

The audit and inspection leading to accreditation was carried out by Bradley Khoury, a Chartered Accountant and Information Systems Auditor, who reported to the eCOGRA Seals Compliance Committee: "The cooperation and dedication of the Betclic compliance personnel accompanied by unrestricted access to knowledgeable staff and transparent information facilitated a highly comprehensive review. The organisation demonstrated strong resilience and noteworthy commitment to compliance."

Lisa Lombardi, the Licensing and Compliance Director for Betclic, said that the accreditation initiative had been both informative and challenging.

"We consider the investment in time and resources to have been very well spent, giving us the opportunity to review all of our procedures and gain the benefit of a totally independent, practical and expert view of the manner in which we conduct every aspect of our business," she said.

Remote gambling standards and player protection body achieves accreditations of its own.

eCOGRA, the independent player protection and standards body servicing the international remote gambling industry, has achieved two milestones of its own, successfully qualifying as a testing agency with the Italian regulator AAMS, and having its systems approved by ISO – a Geneva-based international standards authority.

Working through the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, London-based eCOGRA was accredited by the International Organisation of Standards (ISO) after meeting its stringent systems-oriented requirements and standards.

On July 22, 2011 eCOGRA was awarded the ISO approval ISO/IEC 17025:2005 : General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The accreditation is one of the quality assurance requirements for approval as a testing agency in various European remote gambling licensing jurisdictions.

eCOGRA has also confirmed its capability as a testing entity in the burgeoning Italian market by securing the approval of Italian regulator Amministrazione Autonoma Monopoli di Stato (Autonomous Administration of the State Monopolies) or AAMS.

This accreditation empowers eCOGRA to act as a testing and monitoring agency for remote gambling platforms, random number generators and gaming operator applications for compliance with the technical standards issued by AAMS.

It opens eCOGRA’s considerable experience in the field to operators with plans to access the Italian market.

Andrew Beveridge, chief executive officer of eCOGRA, congratulated his IT and audit staff on the achievement of the new accreditations this week, saluting their professional commitment to the highest international standards.

"Promoting the values of commitment and self-regulation, and preparing remote gambling companies for the national regulatory systems now evolving, remains a critical part of our business, and eCOGRA will continue to pursue testing agency approval in other emerging jurisdictions to ensure that we can provide a full-service offering which meets all of our client’s regulatory compliance needs," he said.

Beveridge added that eCOGRA expected to announce further jurisdictional approvals soon, and was open to approaches from both existing and new clients interested in the regulatory requirements of the emerging licensing jurisdictions, and how to meet these.

About eCOGRA

eCOGRA is staffed by highly professional auditors with Big 4 auditing firm experience, information system experts and responsible gambling specialists. The organisation is a leading supplier of compliance and advisory services in the areas of player protection, fair gaming and responsible operator behaviour to stakeholders in the remote gambling industry. In 2011 alone eCOGRA will perform almost 100 compliance reviews against eCOGRA’s eGAP Requirements, the European Gaming and Betting Association (‘EGBA’) Standards (incorporating the European CEN Workshop Agreement Measures) and various jurisdictional regulations.

About ISO

Founded in 1947, the ISO is an international standards-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organisations. The organisation promulgates worldwide proprietary industrial and commercial standards from its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

ISO is a voluntary organisation whose members are recognised standard authorities, representing a diverse range of countries and industries. The bulk of the work of ISO is done by the 2700 technical committees, subcommittees and working groups, assessing and inspecting applicant companies dedicated to improving services and production.

About AAMS

The Italian online gambling market is regulated by the Amministrazione Autonoma Monopoli di Stato (Autonomous Administration of the State Monopolies) or AAMS, which sets dedicated Italian market standards and requirements for operators in the Italian market and grants and monitors licenses.

Majority of complaints resolved within 72 hours!

The 2011 half-year dispute statistics released by eCOGRA Fair Gaming Advocate Tex Rees this week show once again that eCOGRA-accredited operators maintained a remarkably low complaint ratio under 0.5 percent per site on average each month over the first six months of 2011.

The majority of valid complaints received by the independent player protection and standards body were resolved within 72 hours.

"e;Operators have responded in a fast and cooperative manner to those cases where I have requested information and explanations, and have been quick to respect my findings in each case,"e; Rees reported, adding that it had been noted that a small percentage of players still tried to circumvent terms and conditions governing play and payouts.

"e;This small category of players has become more creative in their tactics, but the operators have developed correspondingly improved methods to identify and then lock them out,"e; she said.

eCOGRA oversees the online gambling activities of some 145 tier one online gambling sites owned by some of the biggest and most established operators on the Internet, and makes available a free dispute resolution service to players using those sites which have been awarded eCOGRA’s "e;Safe and Fair"e; seal.

During the first 6 months of 2011 a total of 475 complaints were received, 57 of these being in respect of sites outside the eCOGRA sphere of influence and therefore not accepted. A further 60 were invalid due to insufficient information or irrelevant enquiry.

The 358 valid and legitimate complaints accepted by the FGA featured cash-in problems (41 percent), bonus issues (23 percent) and locked accounts (21 percent) as the main disputes, with an average complaint rate of 13 per week across all 145 accredited operations.

The number of valid disputes resolved in favour of the player dropped to 40 percent, a decrease of 3 percent on the 2010 figures, Rees reported.

"e;This decrease is attributed to a number of gambling syndicates breaking the terms and conditions that were uncovered by operators through the application of increasingly sophisticated tracking techniques"e; says Rees. "e;The use of multiple account and fraudulent documents are being picked up on a much more regular basis"e;.