By Damian Martinez, journalist at G&M News.
Almost two years ago, you founded the Association of Certified Gaming Compliance Specialists (ACGCS). What is the initiative’s mission? What are your goals for 2024?
The purpose of the ACGCS https://www.acgcs.org/ is to expand the knowledge and awareness of compliance officers within the casino and iGaming environment. Not just a expanded knowledge, but also to support their continuing professional development as well as helping those who are looking to join the industry to have a solid foundation. We’ve done this through the creation of a Certified Gaming Compliance Specialist (CGCS) certification that covers a broad range of topics which helps us to fulfill this mandate. Over the past two years we’ve focused heavily on building the certification and also our relationship with Dalhousie University, a public university in Canada, to provide our students with academic credentials alongside our professional courses. 2024 is really the year where we’re starting to get out and about, meeting individuals and organizations, attending trade shows and getting the ACGCS message out there.
Which topics are currently being discussed in the Canadian gaming industry?
In Canada, there’s a significant focus right now on compliance, responsible gaming and responsible practices within the industry. There are relevant conversations taking place on how to engage in responsible marketing and responsible advertising, and how to ensure player protection. When the iGaming market opened in Ontario back in 2022, there was a flood of advertising on the airwaves and online media. This has really been a work in progress for the Canadian market. New regulations are being created to refine and to manage advertising in a more socially responsible way. This is something which will continue, I think, through 2024 and beyond. Regulators -not just in Canada but worldwide- will be focusing on the responsible gaming aspect.
One year ago, you released a book called “Casino Compliance: Managing Risk in Land-Based and iGaming Environments”. Moreover, you recently moderated the panel “Identifying and combating human trafficking in land-based casinos” at an industry trade show. What are the main challenges operators are facing regarding these issues?
The panel that I moderated covered on identifying human trafficking within the casino gaming industry and, personally, I was really pleased to see the industry take such a focus on social responsibility and responsible gaming. Human trafficking is a very hard crime to identify. In many cases, we often approach tackling this issue from a financial perspective because our financial institutions have a long history in effective human trafficking programs, such as Project Protect here in Canada. We have identified a lot of indicators and red flags for money laundering, but when it comes to human trafficking in land-based casinos, we don’t often have those indicators. In land-based casinos, we’re dealing often with human interaction, and this is really where the casinos in Canada are struggling. The Canadian Center to End Human Trafficking and the ACGCS came together and created a human trafficking course for free, called “Human Trafficking Risks in Casino Gaming”, and we’ve been insisting our land-based operators to take this course. It’s being encouraging over the past two years, seeing the work that we’ve done in Canada as well as our colleagues in the United States in producing white papers and training on this topic. Some operators are seeing with good eyes this kind of initiative. It’s a work in progress and we’ve seen some great cases from, for example, Hard Rock International. They have developed a QR code system, and they have been very proactive in promoting human trafficking awareness within their land-based casino properties and producing materials where patrons can raise concerns if they suspect about any strange situation. With other operators, there’s still a nervousness to talk about these matters, but I think it’s a mindset that is changing.
A robust culture of compliance is vital for maintaining public trust, investor confidence, and the integrity of the gaming industry. How can this be achieved?
There are two ways an organization can do this. First, through education. You have to make your staff aware of the integrity challenges and compliance risks, but also the solutions that come with it as well. This was one of the reasons which led to the creation of the ACGCS. Historically, there has been compliance training and certifications which have been focused more on traditional financial institutions like banks. The certification that we have developed is the first of its kind to cover topics like sports betting, match fixing and responsible gaming. These have really added a lot of value to the market and to casino staff at all levels. That’s the second point: compliance and integrity are not simply the responsibility of a compliance department. It’s the responsibility of the entire organization whether you’re a table games dealer or a front of house member. You’re all involved in compliance. One thing we’ve seen over the past two years is that organizations were coming to us asking for help to build a culture of compliance. That’s something which certainly many organizations are beginning to understand because of the benefits that come of maintaining compliance and the integrity of their organization and identifying wrongdoing.
The casino industry has a profound responsibility to ensure that the pursuit of profit does not overshadow the welfare of patrons, employees, and the broader community. How can operators work towards better social responsibility and responsible gaming programs?
We’ve talked so far about the training and education that staff can receive within the casino environment. Certainly, there’s a lot of training and expertise that staff can be imparted with, but also making sure that the public is also educated in what services are available, whether that’s through voluntary self-exclusion or whether it’s which third-party organizations potentially to contact. We’ve seen many operators create sections of their land-based casino to serve as education centers, where patrons can learn exactly how the games work and how they’re playing. They can make sure they understand the betting and gaming that they’re engaging with, but also know when and where to seek help: this is absolutely crucial. Certainly, lots of land-based operators are now really promoting many of these initiatives like voluntary self-exclusion or cooling off periods, for example. That will give patrons the tools to manage their in-play. There are different very impressive initiatives being pursued by individual operators in this area. We need to do a better job of promoting examples of best practice where they exist.
