RESPONSIVE REGULATION FEATURES IN IAGR2019 PROGRAM
This September, the world’s leading regulatory thinkers and practitioners will arrive in Montego Bay, Jamaica for IAGR2019.
Titled Regulating the game, the conference will focus on how regulators can foster a secure, vibrant, innovative, safe and responsible industry.
Following our call for speakers earlier this year, we’ve been hard at work putting together the four-day program. Over 30 regulatory and industry experts will be delivering a variety of keynote sessions, presentations and panel discussions at Montego Bay’s Half Moon Resort.
IAGR President Trude Felde said, ‘IAGR’s annual conference is the one event that brings together the who’s who in international gaming regulation.
‘With Jamaica hosting this year’s event, it would be great to see a strong presence from regulators and gaming law professionals based in North, Central and South America.’
Trude added, ‘Our session on sports betting and integrity should appeal to regulators and government policy makers from the US following the legalisation of sports betting last year.’
‘We’ll also be deep-diving into a broad range of themes such as AI, big data, blockchain and more.’
Take a look at IAGR’s full program, and speakers and panellists, and book your early bird ticket.
IAGR enews got a sneak preview from keynote presenter Professor John Braithwaite, Distinguished Professor, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.
Swords, carrots and sticks: The case for responsive regulation
The huge fine imposed on Wynn Resorts by Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is a pretty clear example of how severe the stick approach can be. But how do regulators know when the carrot is a better option?
‘Surprisingly often, hospitals make ridiculously bad medical errors. When they did this, their lawyers used to advise them not to admit anything,’ said John.
‘Now many hospitals apologise to patients as soon as possible and often involve patients in root cause analysis meetings to prevent this kind of bad practice from happening again.
‘Their experience is that this reduces litigation costs by one third and makes hospitals safer.’
So, what can gambling providers and gambling regulators learn from this?
According to John, ‘Restorative justice will be discussed as one arrow in the gambling regulator’s quiver.
‘Restorative justice can sometimes sharpen the Sword of Damocles that a regulator holds over the head of a non-compliant firm. Sometimes jumping straight to a punitive regulatory response can blunt the sword.
‘How can regulators make the right decisions on when to punish and when to persuade? When should compliance be coaxed and caressed through capacity building and when should it be coerced?’
‘Responsive regulation is one approach to integrating answers to these questions into a coherent compliance strategy.’
John will talk about examples of responsive regulation in other industries. He will discuss whether responsive pyramids of regulatory strategies and sanctioning sequences might be a helpful way of thinking about gambling regulation.
John’s session will be part of our program for Thursday 3 October. Check out his full bio here.
