Disruption and risk-taking are in our DNA… but not when it comes to regulatory compliance. Maksym Liashko explains.
At Parimatch we are proud of our culture of risk-taking, breaking conventions and daring to be different to best support our customers. However, one area where to do not push boundaries or break rules is compliance. We are challenging big brands to become one of the leading players in the CIS region but we are doing this through the quality of our product and increasing brand awareness via marketing strategies, not by taking short-cuts. We actually feel that compliance is an important asset to help maximize the value of the company in the long-term by improving our brand reputation with customers and stakeholders alike.
With compliance, our approach is to strike a balance and achieve a “win-win-win” with our client, the regulator in the market and our company. Each party should be happy. Sometimes there exist cases when a company aims to meet the regulator’s requirements and the players’ rights when it is not practicable operationally. We aim to strike a balance where players` interests are taken into account. For example, we always consider factors like service usability and ease of registration – and how we can improve them within the boundaries of local regulations.
This year our 350 strong IT team have developed a new software platform and brand design which we are launching across our operation. Although the focus of the design is to improve the efficiency and customer experience of our operations, including our consumer user interface. Our new platform will also provide a flexible platform to support any changes that we need to make to meet new regulatory changes at a software level making it easier for us to integrate them into our operations.
One of the best ways for us to achieve the win, win, win scenario is by developing a good dialogue and working relationship with the regulators in the countries where we operate. It is very much a two-way process. The regulator is interested in our opinion on market developments and understanding best practices from our experiences operating in many different markets. Furthermore, when we are launching a new product or process, the dialogue can ensure that we are aligned at the concept level. On the other side, they give us advance warning on any regulatory developments, allowing time for feedback, preparation, and implementation.
If we are entering a new market, we work with the regulator to analyze all their requirements and integrate them into our IT platform and bring them to automation before launching. If the platform is not ready and we need to implement some regulatory requirements manually and quickly then we risk making mistakes. One market where we hope to use our new software platform to develop automated processes for new regulations is Ukraine. The new president of the country has expressed interest in reforming the legislation that regulates gambling, allowing compliant and responsible betting companies to obtain local licenses. We are making great efforts to share all our knowledge about the regulation of gambling in different countries and their preparation of draft laws to support any reforms – and look forward seeing the progress in the coming years.
