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Efforts to Overturn Online Gambling Ban Hampered by Partisan Fighting
printPartisan 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. Since its passage in October 2006, both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have attempted to repeal The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which requires financial institutions to block transactions involving "unlawful gaming activity." Financial lobbyists have labeled the bill overly burdensome because it fails to define what constitutes illegal gambling. In November, gambling industry groups asked the U.S. Treasury Department to extend UIGEA's Dec. 1 enforcement deadline by a year. The department agreed...
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The introduction of new merchant codes to identify legal online wagers has spurred a handful of U.S. banks to reconsider the compliance risks of processing payments for the online gaming industry, according to sources.
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.
Since the 2011 indictment by the U.S. Justice Department of some of the most prominent online gambling sites in the world, the financial risks posed by Internet betting have changed, believes Christine Duhaime, barrister and solicitor at Vancouver-based Duhaime Law.
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.
The U.S. government's crackdown on the largest online gambling operations this month has prompted American gamblers to place their bets elsewhere on the Web, with few signs of a long-term slowdown for the industry.
The U.S. Justice Department is seeking $3 billion in forfeitures and fines from three of the largest online gambling businesses and the financial institutions and individuals that helped to process bets.
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.
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.
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.
Proposed federal banking regulations targeting online gambling will force banks and other financial institutions to rethink their customer due diligence procedures, AML consultants say
Canadian payments company ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. will forfeit $9 million in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department for its role in helping to launder proceeds from an illegal gambling operation.
The United States should consider strictly controlling, rather than banning, betting over the Internet, as is done in the United Kingdom, gambling experts and some lawmakers say.
Federal law prohibits banks and other financial institutions from "knowingly" accepting funds from Internet gambling operations. But the law is not clear about what constitutes knowingly accepting funds, observers say.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia showed its hand Monday, unsealing an indictment alleging the laundering of $250 million in Internet gambling wagers, the highest-stake case of its type, according to a Justice Department spokesman.
Citibank, the largest issuer of credit cards in the United States, will no longer allow the use of its Visa or MasterCard credit cards for online gambling transactions.