Anita Ondine Smith

Lawyer, Author and Responsible Gaming Ambassador, LivOn Productions

Anita Ondine Smith is a technology, intellectual property, contracts, and data protection/privacy lawyer with two decades of experience advising clients on complex legal and regulatory projects across global markets. Her practice includes a particular focus on designing legally robust and ethically aligned frameworks for high-risk data environments. Anita is known for translating technical and regulatory complexity into clear, practical strategies that support responsible innovation and sustainable business models.

Anita served as senior in-house legal counsel and regulatory project lead at a major global investment bank’s European headquarters, where she oversaw the implementation of two major regulatory frameworks: (1) the EU Data Protection Directive (the predecessor to the GDPR), and (2) the Bank of International Settlements’ Basel II Accord for Operational Risk management. Both multi-year initiatives required extensive cross-department coordination, including rewriting customer-facing documentation and commercial contract templates, developing new policies and procedures, collaborating with IT teams on data-handling redesign, delivering organisation-wide training, and briefing senior management.

Anita also represented her institution in industry working groups, collaborating with peers across the financial sector on best-practice approaches to regulatory alignment. As part of this work, she led a delegation to Brussels to present the banking industry’s position to the EU Data Protection Authority, resulting in favourable amendments to the treatment of personal data by financial institutions.

Alongside her legal work, Anita serves as a Responsible Gaming Ambassador for FanDuel, applies her legal expertise to contract negotiation for international professional athletes, and has worked as a creative producer on several multi-platform media projects. She is also the author of the new book "Assist," aimed at people supporting loved ones experiencing gambling harm.

Anita brings together legal and regulatory expertise, media and advocacy experience, and lived-experience insights into gambling harm — offering a uniquely holistic perspective on today’s rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.