IAGR was held in Asia for the first time

“This marks the first time IAGR has held a conference in Asia, further demonstrating the increasing importance of Asia in the global gaming arena,” said IAGR’s President and Director of Licensing of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Susan Hensel, in her welcome speech at the conference.

About 200 IAGR participants, representing more than 35 jurisdictions from over 19 countries are in Singapore to attend the conference. These include gaming jurisdictions from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Central America, and the Caribbean. Local delegates from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, Commercial Affairs Department, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Tourism Board, are also participating in the conference to learn more about trends in international gaming regulations.

The event will explore emerging issues affecting gaming regulators, industry representatives and advisors, academia and others as they exchange ideas and learn about the latest trends and developments in the gaming landscape and regulation. In addition, there will be panel discussions led by international regulators on a range of issues such as Internet Gambling, social media and gaming, casino crimes, sports betting and responsible gambling.

“It is indeed a great honour for CRA to be chosen to host the IAGR 2012 Conference in Singapore. It is a testimony to our good standing as a regulator in the international community. We have learnt a great deal over the past years from our international counterparts on how we can better regulate the casinos to ensure that they comply with our regulatory requirements. As we are a young jurisdiction, there is still much more we need to learn to become better at what we are doing – that is, protecting Singapore’s interests and the vulnerable in our society from the potential harm of gambling,” said CRA’s CEO,Lau Peet Meng, who is also a member of IAGR’s Board of Trustees.

Signing of Memorandum of Understanding
In conjunction with this year’s IAGR conference, CRA also signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). The MOUs were executed by CRA’s CEO, Lau Peet Meng and representatives from the two jurisdictions. Executive Director, André Wilsenach, represented the AGCC, while President of IAGR and Director of Licensing, Susan Hensel, represented PGCB.

The MOUs pave the way for enhanced collaboration in the field of gaming regulation between CRA and the two jurisdictions. The areas of cooperation include sharing of information, expertise, knowledge, skills, as well as collaborative efforts in exchange of visits and training. The agreement with AGCC also marked Singapore’s first MOU with a European regulator.

CRA had also earlier signed MOUs with two other jurisdictions: Nevada Gaming Control Board and Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation. Today’s additional two MOUs brings the total number of MOUs signed by CRA to four.