Happy New Year, and welcome to our first IAGR update for 2026.

I’ve recently returned from ICE Barcelona, where – despite the weather feeling more like London than Spain – it was a real pleasure to meet with many IAGR Board members, regulators and partners. We also took the opportunity to connect in person with Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism, hosts of our 2026 annual conference in Lima. It’s great to see our plans for October starting to take shape.

While in Barcelona, we held our third annual masterclass in partnership with IMGL. It was encouraging to see strong attendance from both our networks. My thanks go to our panellists and to IMGL for continuing to collaborate with us on these valuable learning opportunities for our members.

You may have seen that we’ve opened our Call for Speakers for IAGR2026. If you’re driving regulatory change, leading on responsible gambling, harnessing data in new ways or tackling enforcement challenges, we’d love to hear from you. We’re committed to ensuring diverse voices and perspectives are represented on the stage, and this is your chance to help shape the global regulatory conversation. Submissions are open until the end of February.

Finally, one of my highlights from our 2025 conference in Toronto was sitting down with former IAGR Chair Thomas Auriemma to reflect on our organisation’s history. While much has changed since IAGR began in the mid-1990s, many of our core values remain just as strong. If you missed it, we’ve included a link to a wrap-up below.

Thank you again for your continued support. I look forward to what we’ll achieve together in 2026.

Ben Haden

President, IAGR Board of Trustees

IAGR then and now: Reflections, challenges and a call to action