ANJ appoints new compliance and player protection director

French gambling regulator ANJ has recruited Christel Fiorina to be its first director of markets, compliance and player protection.

A veteran civil servant, Fiorina spent four years as project director at the French Directorate-General for Enterprises.

In this role she authored and oversaw the deployment of national strategies concerning the promotion of video games, esports and sports, as well as artificial intelligence for the French Ministry of Finance.

She also spent four years working within the French Environment Ministry, firstly as deputy head for the office of biodiversity before transitioning to become head of the environment office and director of infrastructure.

In her most recent role, Fiorina served as a deputy vice-director within the French Ministry of Transport where she oversaw policies aimed at facilitating the digital transformation of the French national road network.

The ANJ has said Fiorina will oversee the economic regulation of the French gambling market, with a particular focus on working to ensure the commercial and promotional strategies of operators do not encourage problem gambling behaviour.

In April, the ANJ launched a market-wide player protection framework to address problem gambling and good practice by licensed operators.

The reference framework applies to all gambling operators, including those under exclusive rights, online gaming operators, horseracing companies and French casino operators.

A central tenet of the ANJ’s framework revolves around greater scrutiny of operator marketing practices. In the case of marketing strategy, all methods of advertising used must be documented alongside an evaluation of their respective impact on problem gambling.

If marketing strategy is modified, operators must provide the ANJ with two months’ notice and a new evaluation form.

Online gambling operators must submit these plans every year on 30 November.