ICE Barcelona seeks to bring together 400 regulators in an effort to fight illegal gambling

• ICE Barcelona sets out to address one of the most painful issues the industry faces – the spreading of illegal gambling and the tax loss due to it
• The World Gaming Forum, hosted as part of ICE Barcelona, will bring together around 400 regulators and engage them in an open dialogue about what can be done to fight back against the unregulated market
• The forum will discuss hot-button topics such as tightening regulation and AML checks, and how they could be balanced to help staunch illegal gambling markets.

As illegal gambling in Europe remains an increasingly challenging problem, with some studies suggesting that 70% of all gambling is channeled through offshore and unregulated operators, ICE Barcelona, one of the industry’s premier events, will seek to bring together 400 regulators in a bid to create a platform from which joint action may be launched against the sector.

With the January show just around the corner, ICE Barcelona is setting out to tackle a glaring deficit in the amount of tax lost due to illegal gambling. Based on an estimate by the Casino Association, as much as €20bn may be unrealized in tax gains for European Union Member States.

ICE Portfolio Director Margaret Dunn has highlighted the most recent effort, which is intended to ensure that regulators come together in addressing the threat to consumers and the industry as a whole, and come up with an actionable plan against the illegal gambling market.

"We have assembled a Regulatory Advisory Board, which has provided insight on how we can most effectively support the industry. Based on their guidance,we’ve introduced an enhanced RegulatorProgramme, whichprovides exclusive access to the ICE World Gaming Gala, discounts for regulators, closed-door sessions, working lunches, and much more," Dunn added.

To encourage an ecosystem of open sharing and engaging discussions, the World Regulatory Briefing, which is part of the ICE World Gaming Forum, will employ Chatham House Rules from 11:00 am. After a keynote and panel, the stage will apply the rules, which effectively encourage open sharing but forbid revealing the identity or affiliation of the speakers or any other participant.

The goal is to encourage open, unfiltered, and honest dialogue about the threats the illegal gambling market poses.

The ICE World Gaming Forum will not avoid difficult conversations, with the format focusing on up-to-date topics such as tightening regulations, tax changes, AML scrutiny, and advertising, and how this is impacting the regulated and illegal markets.

In its essence, the format will focus on the debate around balancing consumer protection measures against a tide of illegal operators that are not beholden to these rules and use tightening regulations to gain market share and reduce the white market’s competitiveness.

Due to taking place at Fira Barcelona Gran Via, on January 19-26, 2026, the event promises to bring valuable insight and help overcome cross-border challenges and reluctance to cooperate.

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