Marja Appelman leaves the regulator to become the Housing Market Director at the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

Marja Appelman became director of the Gaming Authority in September 2013. Before that, Marja worked for the Dutch Healthcare Authority and the Dutch Competition Authority.

An important reason for the establishment of the Gaming Authority in 2012 was the Bill on Remote Gaming. This bill makes legal games of chance online under strict conditions – a step that almost all countries around us have already taken. The idea behind the bill is that by legalizing online games of chance, it is much better possible to regulate the market by means of licensing.

Consumers can then turn to bona fide providers, where they are assured of a fair game and with an eye for addiction prevention. Appelman: ‘I remember that when I took office, the board told me that we were in a hurry. The law would enter into force on 1 January 2015. ‘