Dutch regulator executive named GREF vice-chairman

The chairman of the board of directors of Kannspelautoriteit has been named as vice-chairman of GREF.

Netherlands.- René Jansen, chairman of the board of directors of the gambling regulator of the Netherlands – Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) – has been appointed as vice-chairman of the Gaming Regulators European Forum (GREF), the European organisation of gambling regulators.

GREF was designed for gambling supervisors to exchange experiences in the forum. The appointment took place on May 23 during the annual GREF meeting. The latest forum had a specific theme called “Exploring the boundaries between gambling and regulation”. Besides appointing Jansen as vice-chairman, John Starck, executive director of the regulator of the Channel Island of Alderney, has been elected as chairman.

“The laws and regulations concerning gambling are not the same in any country. Yet there are many common grounds in our work. The protection of consumers, the prevention of gambling addiction and the fight against illegality and crime are of paramount importance to all regulators,” said Jansen.

“By sharing experiences, we learn from each other. We are also confronted with the same issues. For example, a current topic is the appearance of gambling elements in games. All supervisors are looking at how to deal with this. Then it makes sense to work together, partly because there is a strong international character on both the gaming and the gambling market,” he added.

The GREF Board’s aim is for it to become a repository for comment, reference material, useful documentation and best practice in all areas of gambling. It is available to all employees of any eligible authority.  An eligible authority is an authority that licenses, supervises or legislates any aspect of gambling in any European country, state, dependent territory or area of internal sovereignty.