Portuguese regulator approves eCOGRA as a testing agency

Portugal’s new online gambling regulator, Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (‘SRIJ’) has approved the independent compliance testing and standards company eCOGRA as a certifying organisation of gambling technical systems following a tough assessment of its staff, technical capability and relevant industry experience.

eCOGRA currently employs more than 50 qualified and trained employees, focused on the online gambling compliance requirements of its clients, who include many of the industry’s leading operational companies.

Commenting on the approval – the latest in a series of similar approvals from leading online gambling jurisdictions – eCOGRA chief executive Andrew Beveridge said:

“With eCOGRA now among the major providers of compliance testing and certification services to online gambling organisations operating across multiple regulated jurisdictions in Europe, we are anticipating considerable demand for our services as the Portuguese online gambling market becomes regulated.”

Shaun McCallaghan, business development manager at eCOGRA, said the company had worked hard and in close liaison with SRIJ to achieve accreditation.

“I have to congratulate our technical staff in particular for meeting the stringent standards set by the Portuguese regulator for the approval of testing agencies – they ensured we met all the requirements and did a superb job,” he said.

Founded in 2003 to set and improve operational standards and player safety in the remote gambling space, eCOGRA has amassed a wealth of experience in implementing international best practice standards and requirements and ensuring these are maintained through regular review and monitoring.

eCOGRA is staffed by professional auditors with Big 4 auditing firm experience, information system experts and responsible gambling specialists, and acts as a regulatory audit partner to many of the largest operators in the online gambling industry, including bet365, 888, bwin.party, Unibet, Betclic Everest, 32Red, Betway, Casino Rewards Group, Penningautomatförening (Paf), Danske Spil and Fortune Lounge.

The company is an accredited testing agency with several jurisdictions, and has been awarded the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) ISO approval ISO/IEC 17025:2005 : General Requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, for the United Kingdom and Denmark. This accreditation is one of the quality assurance requirements for approval as a testing agency in various European remote gambling licensing jurisdictions.

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