eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) announced on Monday that it has new ownership, as its management purchased the company. The management buyout initiative was led by Chief Executive Andrew Beveridge and was approved by the founding members of the non-profit organization.
eCOGRA seeks to improve the security and integrity of online gaming by setting industry standards, enforcing those standards, and resolving disputes between players and gambling sites. It was established in 2003 by competing gaming firms Microgaming Software Systems Ltd. and Virtual Holdings Ltd., the latter of which eventually became 888 Holdings.
eCOGRA has maintained independence from online gaming operators through control by four directors who, while experienced in the industry, have no ties to those operators. It also employs accountants and IT professionals to conduct systems testing and monitoring.
This change in ownership is significant because while eCOGRA has always professed independence, many players have always been skeptical since gaming companies founded it.
Despite the new ownership, not much will really change as far as the actual operation of eCOGRA. The members of management that bought the organization will remain in place: Michael Hirst will be Chairman of the Board of Directors and Bill Galston, Bill Henbrey, Frank Catania, and Beveridge will be independent directors.
“We are very fortunate that these highly experienced and respected figures in the industry will continue to make their considerable knowledge and business expertise available to us,” said Beveridge in a press release.
On how the new ownership will change how eCOGRA works, Beveridge commented, “We will continue to offer unbiased player dispute mediation through our Fair Gaming Advocate and our TGTR outcomes-based software monitoring system is proving increasingly popular with non-accredited entities and will, if anything, be expanded.”
He added, “Our policy of independently assessing operators for the award of the Safe and Fair seal, and subsequent review and monitoring activity, will remain in place and the provision of professional business services and advisory consulting remains a key element in our commercial offering and will become an increasingly important part of the services offered.”
eCOGRA’s Safe and Fair Seal of Approval has become one of the most coveted labels in the online gaming industry. To earn the Seal, operators must display high integrity, share eCOGRA’s vision of fair and responsible gaming, comply with eCOGRA’s General Accepted Practices, and be approved (along with their software providers) by eCOGRA’s Seals Compliance Committee.
In 2010, eCOGRA received 846 dispute requests, 67 of which were with non-eCOGRA sites and 125 of which were deemed “invalid.” Of the remaining 654 “valid” dispute mediation requests, 283 were resolved in favor of the player. The dispute types were as follows: 286 “cash-in,” 162 “bonus,” 123 “locked account,” and 83 “other.”
These numbers remained largely consistent with those from 2009. That year, the number of dispute requests was 20 fewer than in 2010 and non-eCOGRA site requests were up slightly, resulting in 628 “valid” dispute requests in 2009. A total of 303 of those were resolved in the player’s favor.
