Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will provide the keynote comments to open the International Association of Gaming Advisors’ 38th International Gaming Summit next month.
Holder, who served six years overseeing the U.S. Department of Justice for President Barack Obama, will participate in a fireside chat moderated by Aristocrat General Counsel Mark Dunn on the conference’s opening day. The summit will be held June 4-6 at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay in Half Moon Bay, California.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder
Holder is one of four keynote speakers announced by the association.
His talk on June 4 at 9:15 AM will explore the challenges that arise because of the U.S.’s combined federal and state governmental framework and share his thoughts on the country’s current state of gaming laws and regulations beginning with the DOJ’s recent opinion on the Wire Act and touching on the Senate’s proposed legislation on sports integrity and the growing legalization of marijuana, among other issues.
Since leaving office, Holder has been a partner with Covington & Burling, where he advises clients on complex investigations and litigation matters, including those of international scope and which involve significant regulatory enforcement issues and substantial reputational concerns. Holder was a partner at Covington from 2001 to 2009 and rejoined the firm after serving as the 82nd Attorney General of the United States.
Former Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and former Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett will talk on June 4 at 3:15 PM about the former Governor’s time in office, his perspectives on public service and the changes in gaming within Nevada, the U.S. and globally during his tenure.
Sandoval’s accomplishments during his eight-year tenure spanned economic development, veterans’ issues, health care expansion, and the modernization of Nevada’s public education system, among others.
He reinstituted and chaired the Gaming Policy Committee, which evaluated internet gaming, fantasy sports, eSports and marijuana’s potential impact on gaming operations. Sandoval joined MGM Resorts International as President of Global Gaming Development after leaving office and is now responsible for driving the company’s global expansion efforts while also focusing on MGM’s state public policy efforts around sports gaming.
Former NSA agent Jay Kaplan, the CEO and co-founder of the cybersecurity company Synack, will present an overview of financial cybercrime and its resulting costs at 9 a.m. on June 5. As the gaming industry continues to expand, it is essential that companies evaluate their internal controls, processes, and protocols, because they are constantly being targeted. News about major cyberattacks like the ones against Yahoo and Equifax focus on the amount of accounts hacked and data leaked, but the reality is that the size of the company doesn’t matter. The more critical measurement is cost. The primary motive of attackers is financial gain, so the allure of an attack is the value of the data to the targeted company. The cost of a cyber breach is especially concerning for the gaming industry.
Gaming has become increasingly lucrative, with an international market, growing digital attack surfaces, and the ability to process more cash transactions per minute than the world’s largest banks. These factors make the industry an irresistible target. A flaw in a gaming network could incite a host of cyberattacks, leading to debilitating business downtime and devastating financial costs.
On June 5 at 1 p.m., American Gaming Association President and CEO Bill Miller will address Summit delegates on the current state of the U.S. gaming industry. His talk will touch on key issues facing gaming regulation, responsibility and sports betting. Mr. Miller has more than three decades of experience on Capitol Hill and representing business interests in Washington.
Juan Espinosa Garcia, Director-General for the Spanish Directorate General for Gambling Regulation, will speak on using technology to identify problem gaming behavior and improve at-risk gambler support Thursday morning at 9 a.m. He will look at what these innovations mean for regulators and how companies can incorporate and monetize these dimensions to improve performance.
The Director-General will also consider whether using advanced technologies to improve responsible gaming effectiveness is a matter of regulation, of corporate social responsibility, or both. Prior to his appointment as Director-General, Espinosa was Deputy Director General for Gambling Regulation and also has extensive professional practice in the field of design and analysis of regulation for all sectors of economic activity, as a consequence of his five-year tenure as Deputy Director at the Advocacy Division in Spain’s National Competition Commission.
To view the agenda, click here.
