Canada

The role of tech in compliance

Published

2 years ago

August 11, 2022

The development of tech is an important part of compliance, and Compliable is at the forefront of recent advances and how it can aid regulators. Compliable’s CEO, Chris Oltyan, discusses upcoming enhancements to the Compliable platform from a tech perspective

The gambling industry is heavily reliant on tech in product development, is tech however being underutilised from a compliance point of view and what pitfalls can be avoided by tech?

Useful technology takes time and expertise to build, and we are really seeing the first wave of solutions hitting the market now. We needed experts to know how to deal with the new realities of compliance in a fast-moving multi-jurisdictional setting, and then tech entrepreneurs to deliver solutions with those experts. After all, you can’t use tech to solve problems unless you really understand the problems you are trying to solve. The problems best suited for technology to solve are things that humans must do over and over again, in a painfully repetitive process. In particular, if you look at the evolution of most tech tools, it starts with creating a manual process to manage a task, and usually ends with a complicated spreadsheet that someone will invariably forget to update. This then leads to outsourcing to a company that will use software to keep track of all the details. Filling out forms is a great example of a place where a repetitive but high value task can cause serious issues if it is done wrong. There are always exceptions, but if 90% of things are automated it frees up the workforce to deal with the difficult stuff.

Are regulators exploring tech advancements enough and is there more the industry can do to support regulators, especially with the fast evolution of online gambling regulation in the US?

The short answer is no, but that is unfair to the regulators. Regulators are often given incredibly tight timelines to go live with igaming and sports betting, and that doesn’t afford great options for exploring the incredibly vast world of technology. Add to that the fact that few industry specific technological solutions exist and it’s no surprise that a regulator moves forward with whatever they have on hand. The industry can absolutely help regulators solve these problems. Industry associations IAGA and IAGR helped to establish the Multi-Jurisdictional Personal History Disclosure Form (MJPHD) but developing additional standards could really help the adoption of practices that would allow technology to be used more broadly in the space. I’m not even talking about getting jurisdictions to agree on standard forms or naming as finding ways for states to adopt standards around digital fingerprints could dramatically improve efficiency for the entire industry. Also, I think the industry must be sensitive to the fact that regulators are often tied to their respective legislation. Finding ways for states to have both flexibility and security is hard with new technologies, but we should be working collectively as an industry to find ways and define standards that meet everyone’s needs.

Is there a danger of relying too much on tech as legislation and regulation further advances?

There have definitely been cases where an early technology seemed like a slam dunk but ended up causing problems because it got locked into the official regulatory framework. To avoid this, adopting industry wide standards for tech implementations allows healthy competition while still providing an optimized path forward. If every regulator adopts different technologies to enforce compliance, the burden to the industry to support and accommodate every one of those platforms becomes untenable.

Compliable started off offering a module to license customer support and engineering staff, with the offering now being expanded to include business entities, executives, and board members. Where have the challenges been in building your platform?

The hardest part of developing our platform was simply all the variance in what the regulators ask for. Getting a computer to fill out forms isn’t hard. The complicated part is getting something that can recognize the hundreds of questions regulators ask, figure out the commonalities, capture that data elegantly, and intelligently use it to fill in forms so we can collect data once and then allow that to be used across a wide set of jurisdictions. Now that we have that in place it’s just rolling out new features every couple of days. There is such a clear direction we have from our customers that our roadmap pretty much plans itself, and we just try to keep up with the demand.

What else can we expect from Compliable going forward?

Licensing compliance doesn’t stop with filling out a form and our goal is to make the entire process as easy as possible for our customers. There are so many things that a company needs to track on compliance that can dramatically impact their business so licences shouldn’t be the thing that takes up all their time. From onboarding new employees and directors, to applying for new jurisdictions, to tracking renewals, to submitting electronically to a regulator so you don’t have to print out a small forest worth of applications, we believe we can provide automation across the entire chain. Also, expect us to continue to have new jurisdictions supported on the platform within days of the forms being published, because the industry doesn’t seem to be slowing down its expansion across the US anytime soon.

Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO)

Soft2Bet strengthens integrity monitoring with IBIA membership in Ontario

Published

10 hours ago

May 6, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

soft2bet-strengthens-integrity-monitoring-with-ibia-membership-in-ontario

Soft2Bet, a leading casino and sportsbook platform provider, has joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and activated its membership in Ontario, Canada, following its licensing in the Canadian province.

Soft2bet obtained its Certificate of Registration from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) at the end of March, where the company’s Ontario-focused brand Tooniebet.com will now feed into IBIA’s world-leading sports betting integrity monitoring platform before worldwide implementation in the coming months.

IBIA includes over 50 of the world’s leading sports betting and gaming companies, who operate over 125 sports betting brands. Soft2Bet’s decision to join the association further strengthens its own internal betting integrity protocols and IBIA’s position as the world’s leading sports betting integrity monitoring body.

David Yatom Hay, General Counsel at Soft2Bet, commented: “Soft2Bet is delighted to be joining the IBIA as we strengthen our own betting integrity monitoring processes and play our part in furthering the IBIA’s long-standing work on this key issue. Ontario is a world class iGaming jurisdiction; it will be the first market where we will implement our IBIA membership and we look forward to deploying the monitoring infrastructure worldwide in all the other markets in which we operate.”

Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “Soft2Bet is a very welcome addition to IBIA, further strengthening our position in the Ontario market. The operator’s decision to join IBIA demonstrates its desire to utilise the best integrity protection available for its sportsbook product. The association is delighted to be able to integrate Tooniebet within our integrity monitoring system and looks forward to working closely with Soft2Bet to maintain the high integrity of its sportsbook.”

IBIA is a not-for-profit body that has no competing conflicts with the delivery of commercial services to other sectors and is run by operators and for operators to protect regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets.

Through the IBIA monitoring network it is possible to track transactional activities linked to individual customer accounts. IBIA members generate more than $300bn in annual betting turnover (handle), accounting for approximately 50% of the global commercial regulated land-based and online sports betting sector, and in excess of 50% for online alone.

IBIA recently released a report on the Availability of Sports Betting Products which highlighted Ontario as a leading regulated gambling jurisdiction, with an expected onshore channelisation for sports betting of 92% in 2024 forecast to rise to 97% in2028. IBIA currently represents over 60% of the private sports betting operators licensed in the province. All online sportsbetting operators licensed in Ontario are required to be part of a betting integrity monitoring body.

IBIA’s Q1 2024 report detailed 56 alerts during the quarter. IBIA alerts contributed to the investigations and subsequent successful sanctioning of 21 clubs, players and officials in 2023, an increase on the 15 sanctioned in 2022.

British Columbia Lottery Corporation

SCCG Management Signs Contract with British Columbia Lottery Corporation

Published

1 week ago

April 29, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

sccg-management-signs-contract-with-british-columbia-lottery-corporation

SCCG Management has signed a contract with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), the B.C. Crown corporation which conducts and manages commercial gambling in the province, including lotteries, casinos, and online gaming. This partnership aims to undertake a comprehensive assessment and strategic enhancement of BCLC’s diverse operations.

The work between SCCG and BCLC will involve a thorough review of technological infrastructures, strategic market positioning, and the integration of various gaming modalities. SCCG’s extensive expertise will be pivotal in harmonizing BCLC’s online and physical gaming experiences.

Stephen Crystal, Founder and CEO of SCCG Management, said: “Our collaboration with BCLC represents a remarkable opportunity to push the boundaries of innovation within the gaming industry. We are committed to deploying our resources and expertise to enhance BCLC’s operational efficiencies and customer engagement strategies. It’s an honor to partner with an organization that has a robust impact on the community through its support of public initiatives.”

AGCO

AGCO Requires Ontario Gaming Operators to Stop Offering WBA Bets Due to Integrity Concerns

Published

2 weeks ago

April 22, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

agco-requires-ontario-gaming-operators-to-stop-offering-wba-bets-due-to-integrity-concerns

The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has mandated all Ontario-registered sportsbook operators to halt offering and accepting wagers on World Boxing Association (WBA) events immediately. This measure is being taken to protect the Ontario betting public following concerns that WBA-sanctioned boxing matches are not adequately being safeguarded against match-fixing and insider betting.

Since December 2023, the AGCO has been conducting a comprehensive review of suspicious wagering activity on a WBA-sanctioned title fight between Yoenis Tellez and Livan Navarro that was held in Orlando, Florida. Suspicious betting patterns on the bout lasting over 5.5 rounds were reported to the AGCO by two registered independent integrity monitors and detected in Ontario by a registered igaming operator. Media reports also alleged that Tellez’s Manager placed $110,000 on the match lasting longer than 5.5 rounds at a Florida casino. The bout ended with Tellez knocking out Navarro in the 10th round.

Following an intensive review that included outreach to the WBA, Ontario-registered gaming operators, independent integrity monitors, and regulators in other jurisdictions, the AGCO has concluded that bets related to WBA events do not currently meet the Registrar’s Standards for Internet Gaming.

The AGCO requires all Ontario-registered gaming operators to ensure the sport betting products they offer are on events that are effectively supervised by a sport governing body. At a minimum, the sport governing body must have and enforce codes of conduct that prohibit betting by insiders.

Registered gaming operators were unable to demonstrate to the AGCO that the WBA prohibits betting from insiders, which could include an athlete’s coaches, managers, handlers, athletic trainers, medical professionals, or others with access to non-public information. Further, registered gaming operators were unable to demonstrate that the WBA took any action to investigate or enforce the allegations of potential match-fixing and insider wagering.

The AGCO has indicated to registered operators that in order for WBA betting products to be reinstated in Ontario, operators must demonstrate that the WBA effectively supervises its events, thus bringing them into compliance with the Registrar’s Standards. In December 2022, the AGCO required gaming operators to stop offering bets on UFC events for similar issues related to insider betting safeguards. Within a month, UFC amended its policies and implemented new protocols that allowed the AGCO to reinstate betting on UFC events in the province.

“Ontarians who wish to bet on sporting events need to be confident that those events are fairly run, and that clear integrity safeguards are in place and enforced by an effective sport governing body. Knowing the popularity of boxing in Ontario, we look forward to reinstating betting on WBA events once appropriate safeguards against possible match-fixing and insider betting have been confirmed,” Dr. Karin Schnarr, Registrar and CEO of AGCO, said.