Youbet.com Forms Compliance Committee

Youbet.com, the California-based online wagering company, has appointed the members of an independent wagering compliance committee designed to provide oversight and audit company practices.

The company previously announced its plans to form the committee.

"The composition of this independent panel restates--for our own customers, our business partners, and the pari-mutuel horseracing industry--that we intend to set the bar high, and that we will maintain compliance standards that conform to those used by the leading public companies in the gaming industry," Youbet.com chief executive officer Charles Champion said in a release.

The compliance committee will meet regularly and report its findings and recommendations on wagering systems and security to a Youbet.com directors Joseph Barletta and James Edgar, the former governor of Illinois. The panel will be charged with reviewing Youbet's pending acquisition of International Racing Group to ensure the appropriate compliance procedures are in place. As part of the review, the committee could recommend guidelines to ensure the compliance standards are considered in connection with all future acquisitions.

"The integrity and security of our online and telephonic systems is a crucial aspect of our relationship with customers," Champion said. "This principle inspired the development of the new committee and the selection of its independent members."

Gregg Schatzman, the former chief of investigations for the Nevada Gaming Control Board, will chair the committee. Other members are Gordon Dickie, vice president of compliance and government affairs for Shuffle Master Inc., a leading maker of automatic card shufflers and proprietary table games; Edward Hannah, a partner in the Toronto, Canada, law firm Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, and former general counsel and executive vice president of corporate development for Magna Entertainment Corp.; Stephen Rybar, a former FBI agent who now serves as director of compliance and security at Moulin Rouge Development Corp. in Las Vegas; and Ronald Williams, a 22-year veteran of the United States Secret Service and founder of Talon Executive Services in California.