New NAGRA president urges collaboration between US and European gambling regulators
Jeremy Locke says closer ties are need amid “explosive modernisation” in the gambling sector.
US.- Jeremy Locke, the new president of the North American Gaming Regulators Association (NAGRA), has stressed a need for closer ties with gambling regulators in Europe. Speaking in a podcast broadcast by the British Gambling Commission, he said more collaboration was needed to effectively address challenges on both sides of the Atlantic.
Locke, who is chief operating officer for compliance at the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and was previously vice president of NAGRA, joined the podcast with Jamie Wall, senior manager of international regulatory partnerships at the British regulator.
He said “Over the past five or six years in North America, we have seen this explosive modernisation and evolution of the gambling sector. Regulators across the continent have quickly identified that world has gotten smaller very quickly.”
He noted that the expansion of regulated sports betting in North America has led to an increase in markets on European sporting events. He says this means that coordinated oversight is needed to uphold integrity across jurisdictions.
“We’re seeing events in the UK and rest of Europe that our markets in North America are betting on,” Locke explained. “So, when we have those integrity alerts coming in, we all need to come together. The UK may have their integrity team looking at the same thing, but we can act far more efficiently and quickly if we’re co-ordinated in those efforts.”
Locke said NAGRA had decided to work with the Gambling Commission as it wanted to align with leaders in the area and learn to adapt regulatory frameworks to the rapidly evolving gambling landscape in North America. He advocated for deeper collaboration between regulators across continents, suggesting that while a single, unified regulatory model may not be feasible, greater alignment could ease compliance for operators and improve regulatory efficiency.
“What I’ve learnt through my involvement with NAGRA is there are so many small differences between each state that sometimes make it challenging to achieve a certain level of co-ordination,” he said. “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.”
“The more we can do that, the more time it will save jurisdictions,” he added. “I don’t think there is any pride of ownership in any of these models. They are all keen to share and for other regulators to make it right for their own context.”
