December 2019 President’s Message

IMGL Members –

This marks my last message as IMGL President.

It has been an honour to have served the IMGL as President for the last two years.

As members will be aware, the international nature of the gambling sector is becoming increasingly more apparent with multi-national mergers, both across countries and regions (and gambling industry subsectors) and cross-border investments becoming much more common. The specialized nature of the legal advice and strategic input required can only be provided by IMGL members and I am pleased that our membership has demonstrated its capability to address these issues, both through the expertise of its members, their global presence and the topics presented at IMGL conferences and Masterclasses throughout my tenure as President.

With this in mind, IMGL has held events (both conferences and Masterclasses) in new locations in the last couple of years and I am pleased that IMGL it will continue to do so under the Presidency of my successor, Marc Ellinger from Missouri.
I would very much like to thank the 2019 Executive Committee members (whose details are set out below), for their support (which includes their willingness to attend conference calls at unsocial hours to accommodate my presence in Sydney):

Mike McBride
Marc Ellinger
Mike Zatezalo
Quirino Mancini
Marie Jones
Marc Dunbar
Justin Franssen
Kathryn Rand
Douglas Florence

A number of key objectives have been achieved during my Presidency and I would like to thank the Executive Committee for that support.

One of the achievements during my Presidency, of which I am particularly proud of, is the greater diversity that has been effected within IMGL. This is demonstrated not just with a broader representation in the 2020 Executive Committee but also various initiatives, such as the new members’ initiative which, by virtue of the attendance at special events at the 2019 IMGL conferences in New Orleans and Munich, is growing from strength to strength.

I encourage all of you to renew your IMGL membership for 2020 at the earliest possible opportunity to take advantage of the benefits afforded to IMGL members (including a special discount for the IMGL Spring 2020 conference to be held in Athens from 1-3 April).
IMGL has also been working closely with Clarion Events to organize the World Regulatory Briefing to be held during the ICE Conference from 3-4 February in London. You should have received an e-blast from IMGL Director, Brien Van Dyke, outlining details of a special attendance rate for IMGL members at the ICE VOX Conference.

Full details of receptions to be taking place at ICE, including the IMGL ICE Reception on Tuesday, 4 February, will be circulated soon. I wish to thank Ince again for their continuing support in connection with the IMGL ICE Reception.
For those travelling to Europe in connection with the ICE Reception, Kalff Katz & Franssen will be hosting an event at the Royal Industrieele Groote Club (Dam 27, 1012 JS Amsterdam, Netherlands) on Friday, 31 January in Amsterdam which IMGL members are welcome to attend. For further details and to RSVP please contact Mariëlla Jensen at Jensen@kalffkatzfranssen.nl.

As mentioned in my previous President’s report, IMGL held a function at G2E where I was pleased to confer on various eminent gambling stakeholders, IMGL Regulator of the Year Awards (ROY). This followed the conferment of other awards in Munich at the IMGL 2019 Autumn conference. Congratulations go to each of Larry Eliason, Jonodev Chaudhuri and Paulo Martins Chan in receiving Regulator of the Year Awards and Justin Franssen for receiving the IMGL President’s Award for 2019. I would like to thank each of the ROY committees for their hard work in making their recommendations relating to recipients of these awards.

Congratulations also to the successful nominees for the incoming IMGL Executive Committee for 2020. Elections took place at the Munich conference, with the following appointments:

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 Samane
(Lazcano Samane, S.C., Mexico City)
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)

Please join me in congratulating each of these members of the Executive Committee. I would like to thank each of them in advance for their efforts in leading IMGL during 2020 and continuing to advance IMGL as the leading organization globally in respect of the practice of gambling law.

I would like to thank particularly the Nominations Committee, led by Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier of Snell & Wilmer, for their efforts in conducting enquiries and making recommendations concerning the nominations for election to the IMGL Executive Committee for 2020.

It is not possible for me to thank all those involved in giving their time and effort to IMGL in the last couple of years, whether in connection with conferences, masterclasses or committees. Without your efforts (and the support of IMGL’s sponsors), I would not be able to leave the Presidency in its current position.

Before finishing, I would especially like to thank Brien Van Dyke for her efforts as Director. She has been a real pleasure to work with and, without her, neither the IMGL conferences nor the organisation would be looking forward to 2020 for an even more successful year. 

Thanks again for your support. Best wishes for the festive season and I look forward to seeing you at ICE or an IMGL conference during 2020.
 
Best wishes and Happy Holidays!
 
Sincerely,
Jamie Nettleton
IMGL President