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.
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.
Finding themselves locked out of some large U.S. banks because of compliance concerns, third-party payment processors are increasingly turning to small- and mid-sized institutions for financial services, say consultants.
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.
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.
Poor supervision of high-rollers involved in gaming tour "junkets" and the difficultly in determining jurisdiction over gambling operations on ships at sea are just some of the "significant" money laundering vulnerabilities of the international gambling industry, according to a global watchdog.
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.
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 proposal would forbid the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve from enforcing requirements of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
U.S. financial services regulators said they have not been able to finalize rules banning banks and payment systems from accepting funds from Internet gambling operations because the federal law requiring the ban is too vague.
The Canadian government is broadening the scope of its anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing reporting requirements in the real estate and casino industries in a bid to bring the country's regime in line with international standards.
The proposal, issued by the U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, implements the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. That act, which took effect in October, prohibits financial institutions from "knowingly" processing transactions from online gaming sites.
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.
In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, online payment processors, data security professionals and other experts called for the licensing of Internet gambling businesses but could not agree on whether current technology can successfully verify the identities of online bettors.