GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 12 - April 2010

What was Grand Privé’s response to eCOGRA’s inquiries about ReferSpot players? eCOGRA was assured that all players were included on the GPAffiliate Program database, and that no other databaseexisted. HowwouldyoucharacterizeGrandPrivé’s cooperativeness with eCOGRA through- outtheentireprocess? eCOGRA’sauditors performed the investigationatGP’sopera- tionsbase,and theirstaffwereveryhelpful throughout theprocess. eCOGRAmanage- menthadanumberof robustdebateswith GPmanagement about certain issues, like theaverageplayer lifetimecalculation, but ultimately management agreed with all eCOGRA’s recommendations. Now that you’vebeen through the entire affair, what have you learned and what would you do differently? I’m not sure eCOGRAwould do anything differently in terms of what eCOGRA were actually re- quested todo. This investigationwas com- missionedbyGP, and eCOGRAperformed the work entirely in accordance with the mandate, and the result is that over $63,000hasbeenpaid to theaffiliates. All right,enoughaboutGrandPrivé. Let’s talk about eCOGRA itself now. Who are your boardmembers, andwhat are their backgrounds? There are eight Board Di- rectors, includingmyself. Four Independent Directors effectively control the Board and are responsible for all decisions regarding eCOGRA’s compli- ance, advisory and certification activities. These are all eminent, well qualified and experienced professionals who are inde- pendent of theFoundingMembers: Michael Hirst, OBE, a former Board member of Ladbroke Group Plc, and formerly Chairman and CEO of Hilton International BillGalston,OBE, retiredChief Inspector for theGamingBoardofGreatBritain Frank Catania, former Assistant Attor- neyGeneral andDirectorofNewJersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and a recognized international expert in regu- latorydrafting • • • Bill Henbrey, former head of gaming services at leading international ac- counting firmBDO The 3 Founding Members, which are in fact industry competitors (RandomLogic, Microgaming and bwin Interactive), each has the right to appoint a non-Executive Director. How is eCOGRA funded? Who are your main funding entities? Are your finan- cials part of a public record somewhere? eCOGRA is presently entirely self-funded by rendering independent professional business services to companies, such as data analysis, compliance and advisory services. Current financials are not avail- able to thepublic. Who conducts eCOGRA audits? All test- ing and monitoring is in the hands of a dedicated full-time teamof CharteredAc- countants, auditing and IT professionals with extensiveBig4audit firmandonline gamblingexperience. Andrew Beveridge, CEO – Chartered Accountant,MBA Kyle Harris, Manager Compliance and Advisory Services Department – Char- teredAccountant Gary Lupton-Smith, Manager Data AnalysisDepartment–B.Com, CISA SeanRoberts–CharteredAccountant Louise Chunnet – Chartered Accoun- tant, CISA GarethMuirhead – Chartered Accoun- tant, CISA Bradley Khoury – Chartered Accoun- tant, CISA Shaun McCallaghan – Chartered Ac- countant (part qualified) Grant Bruintjies – National Diploma Internal Auditing MartinTheunissen–MCDBA, MCSA Tex Rees currently heads eCOGRA’s re- sponsiblegambling initiativesanddispute mediation service. WhoauditseCOGRA tomake sure it stays fair and independent? The compliance, • • • • • • • • • • • advisory and data analysis services are overseen by eCOGRA’s Audit and Seals ComplianceCommittees. TheAudit Com- mittee is chairedbyBillHenbrey, aChar- tered Accountant and former head of gaming services at leading international accounting firm BDO. The Seals Compli- anceCommittee ischairedbyBillGalston, OBE, retiredChief Inspector for theGam- blingBoardofGreatBritain. KPMG, as a recognized international ac- counting firm, performs an annual qual- ity assurance reviewwith the objective of ensuring that the governance structure, responsibilities, processes and approach implemented within eCOGRA’s Data Ser- vices, and Compliance and Advisory De- partmentsare in linewithbestpracticeand industry requirements, and comply with recognizedauditpracticesandprinciples. Howmanydifferentsoftwareprovidersand operators iseCOGRAworkingwithorcoop- eratingwithrightnow? Almosteighty. Among affiliates,oneof themost contro- versial aspects regarding eCOGRA is the organization’s history with Microgam- ing. If you could, pleasewalk us through Microgaming’s involvement in thestartof eCOGRA, the evolution of eCOGRA’s rela- tionshipwithMicrogamingandwhatyour relationship with Microgaming is now. eCOGRAwas established in 2003 due to the critical need at that time for effective playerprotection throughout the industry, and all four major and competing casino software suppliers (Boss Media, Cryp- tologic, 888 and Microgaming) were en- gaged to help set up the organization and becomemembers.OnlyMicrogamingand 888 steppedup to the plate, and a couple of years laterbwinbecameamember too. Our relationship withMicrogaming hasn’t really changed since then, other than the fact that we no longer rely upon them for fundingandwealsoprovideservices todoz- ensofothercompetingsoftwaresuppliers. OK.Here’syourshot.Whatarethreethings you absolutely want affiliates to know abouteCOGRA? eCOGRA is probably the best opportu- nity affiliates have right now in achiev- 1. 13 An Interviewwith eCOGRA’s Andrew Beveridge