The International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA) has announced its 2026 Board of Directors, with the newly elected members convening immediately afterward to select the Board’s Chair and Vice Chair.
Board Member – Rich Rader, Umpqua Indian Development Corporation
Commenting on the 2026 Board of Directors, IGSA President Mark Pace said, “IGSA membership is growing every year, which is a signal of strength for our industry. I am pleased to have a Board of Directors that represents the diversity of our supplier and operator members. Through them, IGSA continues its strategy of collaborating and finding solutions with the industry.”
Mark PaceNimish Purohit
IGSA Chair Nimish Purohit added, “2025 was a highly successful year for IGSA. We’ve added new members and committees that have me incredibly excited for the organization. There has been meaningful and successful growth in our active committees, and we are planning new committees to address issues in several areas. I’d like to thank my fellow board members for choosing me to continue leading our organization.”
NEXT.io, the World’s iGaming Community, has announced Soft2Bet as Headline Partner for NEXT Summit: New York 2026, marking the third consecutive year of partnership between the two organisations.
Taking place on 10–11 March 2026 at Convene, Brookfield Place, NEXT Summit: New York has become the definitive US-focused iGaming and sports betting event on the East Coast.
As one of the first major industry gatherings of the year, the Summit brings together senior leaders shaping the future of regulated gambling in North America and beyond.
Now entering its third year, the Soft2Bet – NEXT collaboration has evolved into a long-term strategic alliance, reflecting shared growth, stability, and a commitment to advancing meaningful industry dialogue. What began as headline sponsorship has developed into an ongoing partnership that has helped scale the event’s seniority, relevance, and commercial impact year after year.
Overall NEXT Summit: New York 2026 is expected to welcome over 1,500 industry professionals, with a highly curated audience dominated by C-level executives, founders, and directors. The agenda will focus on regulation, market entry, M&A, player engagement, brand trust, and long-term value creation in regulated markets.
As Headline Partner, Soft2Bet’s collaboration with NEXT.io is designed to create a collaborative environment for sharing market intelligence and strengthening professional ties within the iGaming community.
Additionally, Soft2Bet will have key senior executives participate in in various keynote and panel sessions including:
Andrew Cochrane, Chief Commercial Officer at Soft2Bet, will deliver a keynote session, drawing on more than two decades of leadership experience across regulated markets, international expansion, and large-scale commercial transformation.
Andrew CochraneDavid Yatom Hay
David Yatom Hay, General Counsel at Soft2Bet, will join a panel discussion exploring the evolving dynamics of player engagement, bringing legal and regulatory perspective to one of the industry’s most commercially critical challenges.
“Reaching a third year with Soft2Bet as our Partner says a lot about the strength and stability of this relationship,” said Pierre Lindh Co-Founder and Managing Director of NEXT.io. “We’ve grown together, we’ve scaled together, and we share the same belief that meaningful industry progress comes from collaboration, not just visibility. Soft2Bet consistently shows up with insight, ambition, and a genuine commitment to moving the industry forward, which is exactly what NEXT Summit: New York stands for.”
“Our partnership with NEXT.io is built on alignment, not just sponsorship. We share a belief that sustainable growth in regulated markets comes from open dialogue, transparency and collaboration across the ecosystem. Supporting NEXT Summit: New York for a third consecutive year reflects our commitment to contributing to the industry’s long-term development — bringing operators, suppliers and regulators into the same room to exchange insight and raise standards together,” added Andrew Cochrane, Chief Commercial Officer at Soft2Bet.
Soft2Bet is widely recognised for its innovative approach to iGaming product development, including its proprietary Motivational Engineering Gaming Application (MEGA), as well as its expanding presence across regulated global markets. Its continued headline partnership reinforces both the company’s long-term commitment to North America and its role in shaping the industry’s most important strategic conversations.
NEXT Summit: New York 2026 will also be supported by a dedicated side event, NEXT Focus: Emerging Verticals, alongside an expanded programme designed to maximise senior-level networking, deal-making, and knowledge exchange.
Bally’s Intralot has announced that its executive, Mr. Nikos Nikolakopoulos, President, Lotteries and Executive Board Member, will step down from his Executive role effective 16 March 2026, but will continue to serve as Non-Executive Board Member.
Nikos NikolakopoulosChrysostomos Sfatos
Mr. Chrysostomos Sfatos, who will continue to serve as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Board Member, will additionally assume the role of President, Lotteries, ensuring the company’s commitment to strategic growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.
Mr. Robeson Reeves, CEO and Executive Board Member of Bally’s Intralot, stated: “I would like to thank Nikos for his dedication and invaluable contribution to the company’s growth and the wider lottery community ecosystem over the past 20 years, and I count on his continuing support. The new leadership team is committed to building on his legacy and advancing our strategic priorities to ensure a strong outlook.”
Philippine casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corporation has formally completed its exit from the Jeju Island gaming market, finalizing the sale of its indirect subsidiary’s casino business to a local buyer.
In a regulatory filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the company confirmed that the corporate demerger of its casino operations had been completed, with the gaming license and business transferred to a new entity, Heaven Co.
The buyer, now identified as Blue One Ltd., remitted a payment of KRW7 billion ($4.78 million), triggering the transfer of shares.The transaction marks the conclusion of Bloomberry’s nearly decade-long venture in the South Korean market.
The sale was initially disclosed in October 2025, when Bloomberry’s indirect subsidiary, Golden & Luxury Co., signed a Share Purchase Agreement with Gangwon Blue Mountain Co. to divest the Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino operations.
As part of the current agreement, Heaven Co. will continue to operate the casino business under a lease agreement at the existing Jeju Island property until it secures a suitable alternative location. Golden & Luxury Co. retains ownership of the real estate assets, including the gaming space, as well as the hotel and food and beverage outlets. The remaining balance of KRW3 billion (approximately $2.05 million) from the purchase price is due on or before February 27th, 2027.
Enrique K. Razon Jr.
The exit follows years of underwhelming performance at the property. In the second quarter of 2025, Jeju Sun reported total revenue of PHP128.7 million ($2.19 million) and an EBITDA loss of PHP41.4 million ($706,000). The resort, which houses 36 gaming tables and 20 electronic gaming machines, has struggled since its acquisition in 2015 due to the limitations of South Korea’s foreigner-only casino market. Only one property in the nation, Kangwon Land, is permitted to serve local patrons.
Bloomberry Chairman and CEO Enrique K. Razon Jr. previously characterized the Jeju investment as a misstep, with the island’s reliance on international tourism further exposing the property to demand shocks during the pandemic. The sale allows the company to redirect focus toward its core domestic operations.
South Korean integrated resort operator Shin Hwa World is expecting to record a yearly decrease in loss for 2025 of 20-35 percent.
The group in FY24 registered a loss of approximately HK$494.14 million ($65.53 million), a yearly contraction of 5.4 percent. That means that the group could potentially lower its 2025 loss by up to HK$172.95 million ($22.12 million).
The group attributes the expected reduction in loss to a decline in operating expenses and a decrease in amortization and depreciation as well as an increase in fair value of investment properties.
Shin Hwa World operates Jeju Shinhwa World, including the recently-rebranded LES A Casino.
In August of last year, the group noted that its 1H25 loss was lower than expected, totaling HK$244.39 million ($31.35 million). Revenue for the six-month period totaled HK$410.37 million ($52.65 million), down by 21.8 percent yearly, as gaming revenue fell from HK$114.87 million ($14.74 million) in 1H24 to just HK$61.95 million ($7.95 million). The group attributed the downturn to ‘the decrease in rolling and non-rolling volume’.
Looking ahead, the group aims to ‘transform Jeju Shinhwa World into a multi-purpose, all day destination that extends far beyond hospitality and gaming’.
Events are set to include ‘large-scale poker tournaments, golf clinics, live concerts, seasonal festivals, and themed cultural events’ to encourage repeat visitation, also helping boost synergy with non-gaming spend.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is calling for jurisdictions to consider whether stablecoin issuers ‘should be required to proactively monitor the location and use of their stablecoins in the secondary market’.
In a March 2026 ‘Targeted Report on Stablecoins and Unhosted Wallets’, the FATF indicated that there were over 250 stablecoins in circulation by mid-2025, with market capitalization ‘exceeding $300 billion’.
A Chainalysis report cited by the FATF notes that ‘stablecoins accounted for 84 percent of illicit virtual asset transaction volume in 2025, often involving unhosted wallets and complex laundering techniques designed to obscure fund origins’.
While the report is critical of the ‘criminal misuse’ of stablecoins, it highlights their ‘price stability, liquidity, and interoperability’, which ‘support legitimate use’.
The body is particularly concerned with peer-to-peer transfers of stablecoins and ‘how stablecoin issuers may face difficulties in controlling cross-chain activities, which may therefore fall outside counter-illicit finance controls’.
The FATF Standards do not currently require jurisdictions to adopt regulatory frameworks for stablecoin arrangements beyond those already applicable to Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).
However, it is suggesting measures for both jurisdictions and the private sector.
Stablecoin use on the rise in iGaming
As regulatory frameworks have improved, the iGaming sector has been quick to adopt more stablecoin use. The advantage of having a relatively reliable value has prompted operators to think beyond stablecoins as a gambling currency and start to adopt it for internal processes also – handling deposits, settlements and payouts, and even employee salaries.
They’ve also proven highly popular as bonuses and incentives.
Amongst the growth in use, the varying know your customer (KYC) protocols in place and laxity in certain jurisdictions and by certain operators has the FATF concerned.
Amongst the concerns are that iGaming platforms can be used to launder money through stablecoin use. One case study highlighted by the FATF noted that a VASP in France found the ‘use of online casinos by individuals whose gambling activity appeared inconsistent with their customer profile or declared source of funds. Additionally, the rapid conversion of gambling winnings into stablecoins without economic purposes suggests an attempt to obfuscate the source of funds’.
While concerns over misuse of online casinos for money laundering is valid, one primary reason for the use of cryptocurrencies – aside from transfer speed, lower costs and easy convertibility – is also its relative anonymity. And this is something the FATF is not a fan of.
Freeze, burn, or withdraw
Amongst the technical and governance controls that the FATF would like to see stablecoin issues follow are ‘the ability to freeze, burn, or withdraw stablecoins in the secondary market’. This would effectively mean that the issuer could be called upon to halt a transfer, eliminate the stablecoins involved or even withdraw them to another wallet if a transaction, sender or receiver is deemed suspicious.
But the suggestions don’t stop there, the financial watchdog is also seeking to mandate that issuers ‘conduct customer due diligence at redemption’-to track exactly who is receiving coins and attach a valid identity to the transaction.
Further suggestions are for smart contract controls, such as ‘allow-listing (restricting transactions to pre-approved addresses) and deny-listing (blocking transactions involving high-risk addresses)’.
And for any new stablecoin issuers, the FATF is suggesting that jurisdictions ‘should institutionalize rigorous pre-launch and pre-licensing supervision and compliance reviews to mitigate stablecoin money laundering/terrorist financing risks before launch’.
For now, the FATF is merely making suggestions to jurisdictions and issuers to ensure that financial flows comply with AML/CTF measures aimed at making the world safer. But the potential for overzealous enforcement and oversight of the use of digital currencies does exist. Legitimate and compliant iGaming operators would be the first ones to lose out if enforcement goes too far, as transactions would simply shift to the black market, a highly-complex and organized ecosystem that is ever-ready to dodge regulations.
Casino games aggregator and full-service technology provider St8 has partnered with iBankroll to introduce bankroll coverage as a service to its platform as it continues to expand its products and services across global markets.
Through the partnership, St8 will offer iBankroll’s first-of-its-kind Bankroll-as-a-Service model into its offering, allowing operators to support higher limits while managing exposure and using capital more efficiently.
Built specifically for iGaming, iBankroll combines liquidity, risk expertise, and strategic insight to help operators scale with greater predictability and controlled volatility.
Made available directly within the St8 platform, the integration enables operators to activate iBankroll’s liquidity support solution without additional operational complexity, applying it either across their full casino offering or selectively for higher-limit and VIP segments, depending on their exposure strategy.
Built as a single, scalable solution, St8 provides partners access to premium content through one integration, alongside promotional tools, reporting capabilities and full compliance coverage.
Vladimir Negine, Chief Executive Officer at St8, said: “Our focus at St8 is giving operators the right foundations to grow in regulated markets. Partnering with iBankroll introduces an additional range of tools to our platform and is a practical addition to our ecosystem, one we believe will make a real difference for partners as they continue to scale.”
As St8 continues to broaden its offering, the partnership with iBankroll adds a new financial layer to its platform and marks another step in the company’s growth strategy as it cements its position as a next-generation full-service technology provider.
Hayden Bowman, Co-Founder at iBankroll, added: “St8 has built a strong infrastructure for brands launching and expanding in key markets. By working together, we are able to extend that proposition with additional liquidity support and a structured risk-sharing mechanism that helps operators offer higher limits while maintaining predictable performance.”
Groove Technologies has announced a strategic expansion of its sweepstakes operations with the internal promotion of Michael Kitseliuk to the newly created role of Sweepstakes Account Manager.
The appointment follows a period of intense technical development and testing, positioning Groove’s enterprise-grade platform to deliver unparalleled sweepstakes solutions, underscoring the company’s commitment to continue growing in one of the sector’s most dynamic and rapidly expanding verticals.
The platform, renowned for its advanced player engagement tools, real-time analytics, and a portfolio of over 15,000 games from 150+ top-tier providers, is now optimised to unlock new levels of scalability and profitability for operators within the sweepstakes model.
Michael Kitseliuk, who brings three years of invaluable experience from Groove’s technical operations team to his new position, will spearhead this initiative. His deep technical insight ensures a seamless and simple integration process for partners.
“I’m thrilled to be leading the charge on Groove Sweepstakes,” said Kitseliuk. “This vertical represents the forefront of market accessibility. The lighter regulatory footprint allows operators to launch faster and tap into vast audiences with incredible speed. We’re not just following a trend; we’re empowering our partners to unlock a significant new revenue stream and open doors to previously complex markets.”
The demand for premium sweepstakes content is at an all-time high. Groove’s robust entertainment ecosystem, which adds over 150 new games monthly, is uniquely positioned to fuel this growth. The company has curated a powerful pipeline of content, ready to be deployed through its advanced platform.
Rachel Tourgeman, Head of Partnerships at Groove, highlighted the extensive preparation and market offering: “This isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. We’ve undertaken rigorous, bespoke technical testing for each provider to guarantee a flawless experience for both the operator and the player. This diligence means we can now offer our operator cluster access to a vast network of nearly 50 premier game providers specialising in sweepstakes coins, all integrated and ready for launch.”
This strategic focus amplifies Groove’s core strengths: speed, variety, and technological excellence. By dedicating new leadership to the sweepstakes vertical, Groove ensures its partners can capitalise on this growth with a competitive edge.
Yahale Meltzer, Co-Founder and COO at Groove, concluded: “Our promotion of Michael into this dedicated role signals a new era for our sweepstakes platform. We are harnessing its full potential to offer operators super-fast integrations, a proven and diverse game library, and a technically superior platform. This is a definitive step in providing a complete, market-leading solution for every segment of the iGaming industry.”
The Philippines Australian–New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCHAM) and Aristocrat Gaming proudly hosted over 300 guests on 3 March to celebrate International Women’s Day, recognising women’s accomplishments, promoting gender equality, and strengthening regional partnerships.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme “Give to Gain’ was the inspiration behind the event, showcasing that supporting women through mentoring, resources, advocacy and time, multiplies opportunities for everyone. The event focused on a series of speakers and panels that showed when we invest in women’s advancement, society, communities and workplaces thrive.
International Women’s Day continues to be an important opportunity in the Philippines and around the world to drive proactive conversation and provide a platform for continued dialogue.
Commenting on the initiative, ANZCHAM’s President Benjamin Romualdez said, “Women play vital roles in community leadership, business and public service, so conversations like these are crucial to advancing representation. I’m proud that our event not only celebrated the achievements of women, but also strengthened our shared commitment within the region, to increasing visibility, expanding opportunities, and ensuring that women’s perspectives are embedded in decision‑making at every level.”
Aristocrat Gaming is a proud advocate to increase the representation of women in business and society, and this year were proud to partner with ANZCHAM to create an essential platform for amplifying the voices and experiences of women.
“At Aristocrat Gaming, advancing the representation of women across all levels remains a strategic priority for us and we believe that having a vibrant mix of perspectives at the table strengthens our performance culture and helps create a sense of belonging for all,” said Lloyd Robson, SVP at Aristocrat Gaming.
From left to right: Benjamin Romauldez, President of ANZCHAM, Lloyd Robson, SVP Aristocrat Gaming, and AustCham ASEAN with Kimmi Siu Dewar
“As the principal event partner, we are incredibly proud to be among community, customers and team members who believe that supporting and strengthening the role that women play in our community can drive industries further,” Robson added.
New Zealand and Australia have long been steadfast champions of women’s empowerment, and their presence underscored a shared commitment to creating a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future for women and girls in the Philippines, across Asia, and around the world.
Adding to the high-caliber of industry attendees, Her Excellency Dr. Catherine McIntosh, New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines, and His Excellency Mr. Marc Innes-Brown, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines, both attended and reconfirmed their commitment to driving progress.
South Korea’s only casino open to locals, Kangwon Land, has announced the resignation of its CEO and the appointment of an acting CEO.
In a filing on Wednesday, the group indicated that Choi Cheol Kyoo has resigned and will be replaced by Nam Hun Gyu.
The executive currently serves as Vice President of the Management Support Department and ‘will serve as an acting CEO until the new CEO takes office’.
The filing with the Korea Exchange notes that the date of the change is March 5th.
Nam has been serving in his current role since June of 2024 and is an Executive Director on the board of Kangwon Land.
Prior to joining the gaming operator, Nam served as the Director of the Regulatory Reform and Legal Affairs Division of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
His current term as Executive Director of the company runs until June 12th of this year.
The company did not give an indication of who the possible successor to the permanent CEO role could be in its Wednesday filing.
In late January, Kangwon Land indicated that it saw a 30.7 percent drop in net income for 2025, due to ‘a decrease in non-operating income’.
The group is currently undergoing a revamp of its resort and could be facing further financial pressure after a proposal to allocate about 10 percent of Kangwon Land’s yearly revenue to repay the Korea Coal Corporation’s KRW2.5 trillion ($1.66 billion) debt. The scheme would take 10 percent yearly from the operator’s revenue over roughly 20 years. Korea Coal Corporation holds a 36.27 percent stake in Kangwon Land.
Kangwon Land’s KRW3 trillion ($2.3 billion) integrated tourism master plan (High1) aims to reposition the resort as a tourism and wellness hub, attracting 13.2 million annual visitors and generating KRW3.6 trillion ($2.45 billion) in yearly revenue.
