President’s Message – September 2014

With summer coming to an end and another exciting season of gaming events fast approaching, I hope this message finds you all well.

IMGL is looking forward to a multitude of gaming events, conferences and trade shows this season and is very well prepared to be a part of them. Of course, our own IMGL Autumn Conference, 5-7 November 2014, which will be taking place in one of the most brilliant cities in Tuscany, Florence, will mark one of the highlights in this year’s events calendar. But IMGL and its gaming law experts will also be supporting many other important gaming events around the world this year: New IMGL Master Classes will be held at the Eastern European Gaming Summit in Sofia, Bulgaria (20-21 October 2014) and during the KPMG iGaming Summit on the Isle of Man (10-11 November 2014) and many of our members are engaged as speakers at some other major events such as – and to name but a few – the G2E in Las Vegas (30 September – 2 October 2014), the EiG in Berlin (22-23 October) and the MiGS in Malta (11-12 November). In fact, I am delighted to find that there seems to be no leading gaming law conference that does not feature IMGL members as prominent speakers on their panels.

It is now no longer a secret who is going to receive the prestigious “Regulator of the Year-Award”.  By way of information, the relevant IMGL committees have shown great commitment and sensitivity in selecting the 2014 award winners. The winners were selected from a host of qualified proposals. The IMGL wishes to show its appreciation of the successful and widely acclaimed work carried out by these regulators. Therefore, it is a pleasure to announce that this year the following regulators will be honored with the IMGL “Regulator of the Year Award 2014”:

For the Americas:
Stephen Martino, Director, Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, Maryland

For Europe:
Carlos Hernandez, General Director of the DGOJ, Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations, Spain

For the Indian Countries:
Thomas Russell, Commissioner, Pokagon Band Gaming Commission, Arkansas

For Asia/Australasia:
Malcolm Richardson, Director of Compliance and Investigations, Department of Business, Northern Territory Australia

You may have noticed that Asia/Australasia has been introduced as a new category. Due to the increasing number of members from the Asian and Australian region and in view of the significant developments of markets and regulation in this part of the world it was high time to do so. Malcolm Richardson will be the first regulator to receive the “Regulator of the Year Award” for this region.

On top of that, I am particularly happy to introduce yet another new category: the “IMGL Lifetime Achievement Award”. This award honors experienced regulators for their lifetime achievement and outstanding service in developing and improving regulation and continuously promoting and encouraging debate and an open dialogue among all parties involved. The first award winner to receive the “Lifetime Achievement Award” in the history of IMGL is Pete Bernhard, Former Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. On behalf of all IMGL members I would like to congratulate Pete Bernhard and express my respect for him and his achievements.

All award winners will be introduced later in our publications where you can also find a multitude of additional information on them.

The frequently published IMGL magazines play an increasing role in shaping gaming law in various jurisdictions. This is due to the fact that they are characterized by an outstanding content and topicality and, of course, the specialist expertise of the authors. But things are also moving forward regarding the IMGL world of digital communication. Our website has matured. In an ongoing effort to better serve the IMGL members and the gaming community, the IMGL website is undergoing a complete redesign and technology update. This will include introducing e.g. the possibility of creating a personal profile and uploading articles and many other exciting new features. You may witness the launch of our new site on 5 November at the IMGL Autumn Conference in Florence. After the launch I encourage you to get familiar with the site, try out the new features and make this site your site.

Hoping to be in touch and preferably see you at one of our upcoming IMGL events.

Joerg Hofmann