News
Banking Regulators Not Likely to Delay Internet Gambling Ban, Say Analysts
By Brian Monroe
printA call by over a dozen lawmakers to delay a Dec. 1 deadline requiring banks to block transactions tied to Internet gambling won't likely sway the White House, say analysts. Nineteen lawmakers issued the 11th hour plea in an Oct. 1 letter to the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve urging the delay of a Dec. 1 enforcement deadline of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by one year. Under rules issued in November 2008, banks will have to identify and freeze transactions tied to offshore Internet gaming operations. If implemented, the law will create an "unreasonable burden on...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
Leaders of a senate panel Wednesday called for stronger oversight of online gaming to reverse the effects of a 2011 U.S. Justice Department memorandum that loosened restrictions on the industry.
An agreement between a global online gaming company and an Atlantic City casino to offer Internet wagering in New Jersey faces an uphill battle to gain the necessary approval from state regulators, say analysts.
In the wake of a Florida crackdown on cashless gambling operations, some large banks have begun reviewing their relationships with Internet sweepstakes parlors, say compliance officers.
A U.S. Justice Department memorandum clearing the way for online gaming may exacerbate compliance woes for banks operating under a 2006 anti-gambling law, say attorneys and industry groups.
As some states inch toward legalizing online gambling, they are unlikely to get much cooperation from financial institutions concerned that they'll be held liable for processing even legal bets, say analysts.
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved a measure Wednesday that would legalize some Internet gambling and diminish the compliance duties of financial institutions monitoring for online bets and payouts.
U.S. banks are still fine tuning policies on when to report suspicious activity and reject transactions tied to online gambling after the passing of a June 1 enforcement deadline.
An online gambling ban that requires banks to monitor for illegal transactions is unlikely to be overturned before a June 1 enforcement deadline, despite congressional efforts to repeal the law.
U.S. Justice Department cases tied to a controversial ban on online gambling will likely complicate congressional efforts to overturn the law before a June enforcement deadline, say government officials and consultants.
Partisan bickering and a backlog of legislation are stymieing congressional attempts to overturn a controversial ban on online gambling before a June enforcement deadline, according to analysts.
The federal ban on processing transactions tied to Internet gambling will likely be overturned at some point, but lawmakers have yet to address how to best mitigate related money laundering risks, according to a former IRS agent who recently testified before U.S. lawmakers.
A bill that would legalize Internet gambling within the United States through licenses issued by the Treasury Department will likely be approved by the House of Representatives, say analysts.
U.S. financial regulators Friday granted financial institutions a six-month delay in enforcing a controversial Internet gambling ban that will require banks to freeze transactions tied to the illegal organizations.
A Canadian national laundered nearly $380 million and illegally processed payouts from online gambling companies to their U.S.-based customers, according to a federal indictment released Thursday. The indictment seeks more than half-billion dollars in forfeitures.
Odds that banks won't have to implement programs to detect online gambling have markedly improved this year after past efforts to halt the regulation fell flat, according to gaming experts.
The United States has ordered four banks to freeze $33 million tied to companies that dole out winnings to online poker players, according to an Internet gambling advocacy group.
As the Bush administration prepared this fall to step down in January, lobbying groups pushed for the issuance of regulations that few thought of as a priority: the final rules on a controversial Internet gambling ban.
Federal regulators finalized rules Wednesday on how financial institutions should monitor and prohibit transactions involving illegal Internet gambling operations.
Proposed federal banking regulations targeting online gambling will force banks and other financial institutions to rethink their customer due diligence procedures, AML consultants say
The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services voted down a bill Wednesday that would have reversed a federal ban on processing Internet gambling payments. The bill would have stopped regulations issued by the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury Department in October.