International Gaming Summit Conference Program Committees
The Conference Program Committee and Sub-Committees plan and coordinate the IAGA International Gaming Conference program, recruit key gaming industry leaders and regulators from around the world to participate as speakers, and ensure that each year's topics address cutting edge and current issues involving all facets of the gaming industry and the regulation of gaming.

Primary Planning Committee
          AMY ELDER, Chair, has extensive experience in all aspects of gaming law. Ms. Elder represents and advises privately held and publicly-held casino operators, gaming-related manufacturers, casino management companies, investors, developers, commercial lenders and private equity firms in a wide range of gaming matters, including licensure, regulatory compliance, administrative hearings, financing and project development. Her clients include the largest gaming operators and gaming equipment manufacturers in the casino industry. 
          DR. BRETT ABARBANEL is Executive Director the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, International Gaming Institute, and Associate Professor in UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration. She has a research affiliate appointment at the University of Sydney School of Psychology’s Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic. Dr. Abarbanel's research explores the intersection of of gambling with esports, video games and traditional sports. She also has extensive experience in gaming operations and technology, responsible gambling and community relations, and gaming history.


          BAHAR ALAEDDINI is a Partner at Harris Hagan in the UK and specialises in all aspects of online and land-based gambling law. She advises many of the world’s largest land-based and online gambling businesses (B2C and B2B operators) as well as many start-ups, investors and leading international law firms. Bahar has extensive gambling legal, regulatory and licensing experience advising on legal classification, licence applications, investor due diligence, change of corporate control applications, complex group restructuring and specialist regulatory matters relating to mergers and acquisitions. She also advises on regulatory compliance assessments and investigations and licence reviews.
         

SUE DAWSON is Chief Legal Officer for Light & Wonder, a leading global provider of social, land and online casino games listed on both the NYSE and ASX. Before joining L&W, she was in-house counsel for both Inspired Entertainment and Gala Coral Group and spent 10 years in private practice advising clients in the betting and gaming sector. Working in gaming her entire 25-year career with both B2B and B2C operators has enabled Sue to gain a wealth of knowledge and expertise of gambling law across various verticals and jurisdictions.

  


         

WES HIMES is Executive Director, Standards and Innovation for the UK Betting and Gaming Council. Wes was the CEO of the Remote Gambling Association (RGA). Prior to that he was a Managing Partner with Instinctif Partners and before that founder and CEO of the Policy Action. Wes started the interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association (iGGBA) in 2000 which later became part of the Remote Gambling Association.

 
         

JACQUI KRUM is the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Wynn Resorts, Limited, a position she has held since December 1, 2024. Ms. Krum originally joined Wynn Resorts in 2013 to assist with the development of gaming projects in the U.S. and abroad and was a member of the team that won the competitive gaming license bid in the Eastern Massachusetts area for Wynn Resorts. In 2015, she moved from Las Vegas to Boston to become the Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Encore Boston Harbor, helping to lead the opening of that resort in 2019.
         

RAYMOND LIN joined Mohegan as Chief Legal Officer to develop Mohegan’s legal and compliance strategy. With more than 25 years of experience in the legal field, Lin brings a range of valuable knowledge to this role and is integral in planning and implementing the broad legal aspects of creating a strong business that holds itself to a higher standard of accountability for financial discipline, disclosure, legal compliance, planning and strategic direction. Ray is responsible for advising executive management on legal matters regarding a wide range of commercial transactions, regulatory issues, international and domestic policy-making decisions, and formulating business, operational and legal strategies.

 

Sportsbetting Sub-committee
         

RHEA LONEY, Co-Chair, is Chief Compliance Officer of BetMGM where she oversees compliance in the areas of licensing, regulatory compliance, anti-money laundering, and responsible gambling. BetMGM is live in 29 markets across U.S. and Canada with online sports betting, online casino, and retail sports betting. Rhea joined BetMGM in fall of 2022. Before joining BetMGM, she served as Vice President of Compliance for Penn Interactive building the first interactive compliance function for Penn Interactive. Prior to that, Rhea was an Assistant Attorney General with the Louisiana Division of Gaming for almost a decade focusing on horse racing, regulatory, and administrative law.
         

JESS FEIL serves as Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Compliance at OpenBet where she oversees the business’s global compliance function. Before joining OpenBet, Jess held the position of Vice President, Government Relations & Gaming Policy Counsel at the American Gaming Association. She started her career at a boutique law firm in Washington DC, where she advised gaming clients from all over the world on a variety of areas including regulation, compliance, and licensing.

 


         

MARCUS D. FRUCHTER  was appointed Illinois Gaming Board Administrator in May 2019. He leads the regulatory and law enforcement agency that oversees Illinois’ 15 casinos, 14 sportsbooks, and more than 8,500 video gaming establishments. Administrator Fruchter has directed implementation of Illinois’ landmark gaming expansion law, including the launch of the state’s sports wagering market and exponential growth in casino and video gaming operations. He has also spearheaded critical agency modernization initiatives and rulemakings. Prior to the IGB, Administrator Fruchter was a senior enforcement counsel at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, serving on the Cyber and Market Abuse Units. 
         

Prior to joining FanDuel, JONATHAN NABAVI was most recently Vice President of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the National Football League (NFL) and is responsible for advising on all aspects of its public policy and legislative agenda and represents the League on a wide range of issues before Congress, the Administration, and other federal and local government agencies. Prior to joining the NFL, he served in a variety of senior congressional staff and political roles, most recently as Majority Counsel for the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, providing strategic counsel to the Chairman. 
         

PEDRO TRENGROUSE is a Partner at Trengrouse Gonçalves Advogados. A Professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas and member of the Brazilian Lawyers Institute, he is certificated in Casino Regulations from UNLV and has a Master in Humanities, Management and Law of Sports - FIFA Master, whose dissertation inspired the creation of FIFA's Corporate Social Responsibility department and FIFA Foundation. Pedro was the Vice-President of the Brazilian Bar Association Special Committee on Gaming Law, Lotteries and Entertainment, a Member of the Commission appointed by the Federal Senate to elaborate the Sport General Law draft and UN Consultant for Sport legislative matters, in particular referring to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

AML / FinCrime Sub-committee


          VASILIOS CHRISOS, Chair, is a Principal with PwC's Financial Crimes Unit and has 20+ years experience assisting companies on all aspects of financial crime compliance, AML and sanctions matters. He has assisted casino operators with implementing comprehensive, risk-based AML and sanctions compliance programs, including executing enhanced due diligence for higher-risk patrons and investigating suspicious levels of play. He serves on the Global Advisory Board of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.


          GREG BROWER is a shareholder in the law firm of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.  His practice focused on litigation, government investigations, gaming regulatory matters, and government relations. He recently rejoined Brownstein after three years as the Chief Global Compliance Officer at Wynn Resorts. He previously served in several senior government roles including Assistant Director and Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, Inspector General for the U.S. Government Publishing Office, and as an elected member of the Nevada Legislature.  


          BARAK COHEN, a Partner with Perkins Coie, represents companies and individuals facing government enforcement actions and investigations in highly regulated industries, particularly the regulated gaming, healthcare, and government contracting industries. Barak is a partner in the White Collar & Investigations practice, and co-chair / founder of the firm’s Cannabis Law group. He also works with the firm's Digital Media & Entertainment, Gaming & Sports industry group as the co-lead of the Gaming vertical, representing clients in the regulated gaming industry in litigation and investigation matters.
          OMAR KHOURY is the Chief Global Compliance Officer for Wynn Resorts, Limited, where he leads the Company’s global compliance strategy and oversees key programs including Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Corruption, and the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. He has over 20 years of experience in the gaming and financial services industries, with deep expertise in regulatory compliance, licensing, and policy development. Prior to joining Wynn, Omar served as the Senior Vice President of Regulatory Compliance at Everi and spent nearly 15 years at MGM Resorts International in various leadership roles, including Vice President of Corporate Compliance, Casino Controller, and Internal Auditor.

 
          ERICA OKERBERG, Vice Chair of Greenberg Traurig's Global Gaming Practice, focuses her practice on gaming law and promotional law. She has deep experience handling complex gaming licensing, operational, and regulatory matters for U.S. and International clients. She represents land-based and online casino companies, sports wagering operators, manufacturers and distributors, as well as other companies providing services to the gaming industry. Erica also has wide-ranging experience with analyzing and structuring social games, skill-based contests, and sweepstakes. 
             

Technology Sub-committee       
          BILL GANTZ, a Partner with Duane Morris, is a versatile lead trial lawyer with nationwide experience representing gaming, technology, and manufacturing in intellectual property and commercial litigation, including patent infringement, trade secret, consumer class action and appeals. Bill has been advising the igaming industry since 2002 on regulatory, licensing and commercial matters in the United States. He regularly provides counsel on intellectual property and regulatory compliance matters to start-ups and digital entertainment businesses offering igaming, social gaming, pay-to-play or "freemium" games, fantasy sports, esports, sports betting, skill games, sweepstakes, retail product promotions and lottery tickets.