North America Wants Closer Collaboration with European Gambling Regulators

North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA) president Jeremy Locke has said that regulators in both North America and Europe ought to collaborate closely to address issues that are of interest to watchdogs on both sides of the pond.

North American Regulators Seek to Learn from European Expertise

According to Locke, who took part in a UK Gambling Commission podcast, there was an inherent interest for all watchdogs across North America and Europe to be working together, as it would allow them to exchange know-how, best practices, and even track errant operators.

Commenting on why this could be a good idea, Locke, who himself serves as CFO at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, had this to say:

“Over the past five or six years in North America, we have seen this explosive modernization and evolution of the gambling sector. Regulators across the continent have quickly identified that the world has gotten smaller very quickly.”

In other words, there is a very good reason why regulators are scrambling to tap the expertise of overseas counterparts. In Australia, the media watchdog has formally reached out to counterparts and gambling regulators in places such as Curacao, asking for assistance in negating the reach of third-party websites.

One of the core reasons is not just ensuring that rogue operators in one continent are punished in the other.

Besides this, a closer collaboration could alert a global network of experienced watchdogs about potential match-fixing that could be originating on their turf, leading to a stronger and swifter legal recourse locally on behalf of another jurisdiction.

Small Differences in Regulatory Makeups Hamper Full Collaboration

Not least, Locke has acknowledged that European homologues have much better experience in addressing gambling-related issues, as they have been around longer. However, there are challenges, too.

Collaboration is often impeded by the fact that each jurisdiction, for example, states in the US, tend to have slightly different rules, which could hamper true collaboration and relegate it to dealing with red tape issues.

“We need to find a way for more seamless regulatory services in integrated markets. We should have high standards, but make it easy for operators to understand what requirements are,” Locke explained confidently that a stronger collaboration is not only the cards, but is bound to happen, as the world is shifting to a global gambling framework that prioritizes consumer safety and leaves no place for bad actors to hide.