August President’s Message

IMGL is looking forward to seeing members and guests at the IMGL 2019 Autumn conference in Munich from 11 September.

Wulf Hambach and the conference committee have put together a program which addresses the leading topics being faced currently by the gambling sector, both in Europe and globally.  These topics will be covered both by our keynote speaker (Harald Neumann, the CEO of Novomatic) as well as regulators from a number of jurisdictions.

In addition to panels on topics such as the ‘Future of Gaming’, ‘Gaming on TV’ and ‘AI’, there will be a number of round table sessions enabling discussions to take place directly between attendees and regulators on issues, such as diversity, enforcement and the future of gambling.

The global coverage of IMGL’s membership will be demonstrated by topics involving leading gambling lawyers (also IMGL members) from Latin America, Eastern Europe and North America.

There will also be a range of social events including a Gala Dinner at BMW World and the closing reception will be held at Bayerischer Hof.  Also, there will be special events for younger attendees, including a breakfast on Friday, 13 September.  Please see the Munich conference program on www.imgl.org for further details.

Thanks in advance to the Conference Committee comprising of Andre Wilsenach, Anna Soilleux, Birgitte Sand, Frieder Backu, Jason Chess, Jeremy Kleiman, Marc Ellinger, Matthias Spitz, Morten Ronde, Santiago Asensi and particularly, Nicole Tonelli and Paula Ott for their great effort in co-coordinating the conference.

The Munich conference also represents an important occasion for IMGL at which elections will take place for the IMGL leadership for 2020.  The elections will take place at the Members Meeting to take place at 4:00pm on Wednesday, 11 September and IMGL Members should receive the agenda and the meeting documents in the course of this week.

The Nominations Committee has made its recommendations concerning candidates for election to the key positions on the Executive Committee in 2020.  In making these recommendations, the Nominations Committee has made extensive efforts in ensuring that their recommendations represent a broad range of the IMGL membership and takes into account the recommendations made last year by the IMGL Diversity Committee.

Those IMGL members recommended by the Nominations Committee for election are as follows:

Nominated candidates for office

President – Marc H. Ellinger (Ellinger and Associates, LLC, Jefferson City, Missouri)

Executive Vice President – Quirino Mancini (Tonucci & Partners, Italy)

First Vice President – Marie Jones (Fox Rothschild LLP, New Jersey)

Second Vice President – D. Michael McBride III (Crowe & Dunlevy, Oklahoma)

Secretary – Marc Dunbar (Dean Mead, Florida)

Treasurer – Peter Kulick (Dickinson Wright, Michigan)

Assistant Secretary – Cosmina Simion (Simion & Baciu, Romania)

Assistant Treasurer – Alfredo Lazcano Samano (Lazcano Samano, S.C., Mexico City)

Nominated Affiliate Members candidates for office

Vice President, Affiliate Members – Tina Kilmer (GLI, Las Vegas)

Vice President, Educator Members – Kathryn Rand (Dean & Co-Director, University of North Dakota School of Law)

The Nominations Committee also recommended that Justin Franssen remain a member of the Executive Committee. Due to the limited number of positions on the Executive Committee contemplated by the By-Laws, but noting the capability of the President to nominate other IMGL members to the Executive Committee, it is proposed that Justin Franssen remain a member of the Executive Committee for 2020.

Please give the election your consideration and ensure that if, you are not attending the Munich Members Meeting, you exercise your vote by returning the voting papers to Brien van Dyke well in advance of the Members Meeting.

I would like to thank the Nominations Committee (comprising Heidi Staudenmaier, Michael Lipton, Stephen Ketteley, Jane Zerbi and Sean McGuinness), for their diligence and lengthy deliberations in making their recommendations for the 2020 Executive Committee.  This is most appreciated.

The various IMGL Regulator of the Year Committees, have also made their recommendations.  I am pleased to inform members that the following will be recognized by IMGL as Regulator of the Year for 2019:

Regulator of the Year (Asia/Australasia)

Mr Paulo Martins Chan

Director, Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macao SAR

Regulator of the Year Award – Indian Country

Mr Jonodev Chaudhuri

Partner, Quarles and Brady LLP

Lifetime Achievement Award – North America

Mr Larry B. Eliason

Executive Secretary, South Dakota Commission on Gaming

Mr Chan will be attending the Munich conference to receive his Award, while each of Mr. Chaudhuri and Mr. Eliason will attend the IMGL Reception at G2E (to take place at La Cave at the Wynn on October 15) to receive their awards. (Please ensure that this latter event is marked in your diaries.)

Finally, I am pleased to inform members that plans for the IMGL 2020 Spring conference in Athens are well under way.  Plans have been made for the conference to be held at the Hotel Grande Bretagne, with the Gala Dinner to take place at the Acropolis Museum.  OPAP, the Greek licensed sports betting and gaming operator, has agreed to be one of the key sponsors.

Please ensure that 1-3 April 2020 is marked in your diary so that you may attend the Athens conference.

I look forward to seeing you in Munich from 11-13 September.

Best wishes,

Jamie Nettleton
PRESIDENT – IMGL