ANJ Adds Six Members to Sanctions Commission

The Sanctions Commission of Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has asked six new members to join its team. The six have been officially confirmed by the French regulator for terms that will expand over the course of the following six years. Their main responsibilities will be to issue suspensions, fines, and a series of other sanctions when applicable. 

Frédéric Dieu to Lead the Sanctions Commission

Frédéric Dieu is part of the duo that will represent France’s Conseil d’État (Council of State), together with Dorothée Pradines. He will also lead the Sanctions Commission. Dieu has been a member of the Council for 22 years and ten months. Dieu has also been an advocate-reporter for the past 12 years and nine months.

Pradiens has been a lifetime civil servant for the Council of State for the past two years and two months. She has also served as an advisor interministerial delegate for the Prevention and Fights Against Child and Youth Poverty between September 2018 – August 2020 and she has been an auditor for the Council of State for almost three years. In this position, she was responsible for reporting to the Litigation Section – 1st Chamber in matters related to public health, social security, social assistance, and town planning.

The duo will be joined by Véronique Boisselett and Fabrice Delbano, two advisers to the French Court of Cassation, together with Maud Choquet and Nicolas Brunner, a pair of judges representing the Court of Audit.

Delbano has worked as an advisor to the Court of Cassation in his position as a lifetime civil servant for the past 14 months. In 2018, he also became the Chamber President for the Amiens Court of Appeal. Choquet has been an auditor for the Court of Audit for the past two years. 

From Simple Warnings to Heavy Monetary Penalties

All six members have been empowered to sanction gaming operators who do not comply with the industry regulations. These sanctions can vary from simple warnings to financial penalties that cannot go over the 5% mark of their turnover. Once the ANJ establishes that a certain operator has failed to comply with one or several of its obligations and provided it considers it to be “appropriate,” the ANJ’s college is allowed to seize the Sanctions Commission. 

For example, the ANJ clearly states that operators are not allowed to return more than 85% of the stakes to their players. Last month, the regulator discovered that seven French operators had violated this regulation in 2021. The matter has since been brought in front of the Sanctions Commission. In addition, two operators were also charged with failing to identify and show support for vulnerable people prone to problem gambling. 

In June, the French regulator decided to launch a working group to oversee sports partnerships and ensure they fully comply with all rules.