eCORGA Approves Betclic, Gets Italian OK

The i-gaming industry’s leading accreditation agency eCOGRA—an acronym for “eCommerce Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance”—posted two milestones last month.

The London-based internet casino, poker and sportsbook company Betclic has recently received accreditation by eCOGRA. After an audit and inspection of the Betclic operation, the independent standards and player protection organization has granted the company successful accreditation, giving it the right to display eCOGRA’s Safe and Fair seal on its website.

Betclic, the founding company of what has become the Betclic Everest Group, joins 146 online gambling sites that have demonstrated a practical commitment to higher standards of operational conduct, fair gaming, integrity and player service.

eCOGRA Chief Executive Andrew Beveridge said the company “has also achieved compliance with the European Gaming and Betting Association’s standards, and it is therefore not surprising that the management met all of our requirements despite a rigorous on-site inspection and review process.”

Lisa Lombardi, the licensing and compliance director for Betclic, said the accreditation initiative had been both informative and challenging.

“We consider the investment in time and resources to have been very well-spent, giving us the opportunity to review all of our procedures and gain the benefit of a totally independent, practical and expert view of the manner in which we conduct every aspect of our business,” she said.

Also last month, Italy’s gaming regulatory authority AAMS approved eCOGRA as a testing and monitoring agency for remote gambling platforms, random number generators and gaming operator applications.

Beveridge welcomed the approval of AAMS and the recent granting of ISO/IEC 17025:2005 General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.

“Promoting the values of commitment and self-regulation, and preparing remote gambling companies for the national regulatory systems now evolving, remains a critical part of our business, and eCOGRA will continue to pursue testing agency approval in other emerging jurisdictions to ensure that we can provide a full-service offering which meets all of our clients’ regulatory compliance needs,” said Beveridge.

eCOGRA is expected to announce further jurisdictional approvals soon, according to Beveridge. He also said eCOGRA is open to approaches from existing and new clients interested in the regulatory requirements of the emerging licensing jurisdictions, and how to meet these.