U.S. online gambling ban could be repealed next month

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) could be repealed as soon as next month, when House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will introduce bill to take the law off the books. The problems it has created between the U.S. and European Union, where a number of stock exchange listed online gambling companies have lost billions in market value since the online gambling law was put on the U.S. books in late 2006, and the fact that E.U. could file a complaint against the United States about the enforcement of the online gambling ban are among the top reasons for the new bill that would effectively repeal the UIGEA. It was confirmed by spokesman for the Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank that the Representative will re-introduce a bill to repeal the online gambling ban as soon as next month.

FSC Chairman Barney Frank was among the lawmakers urging the Bush administration to avoid implementing the gambling ban, considering that not only it would strain relations with the E.U., but the online gambling ban would effectively put enormous pressure on the banks during already though times for the banking sector. The Bush administration, however, went through and implemented the online gambling ban framework, making it illegal for U.S. banks to process funds to and from online gambling websites. This did not sit well with the European Union, which sees the internet gambling ban in the U.S. as unfair, considering that the online horse racing companies in the United States were exempt from the gambling ban and were allowed to take bets online. With the current banking crisis, forcing the banks to spend additional time and resources on trying to track which of the million daily transactions originate or a destined to online gambling websites, seems ludicrous and there is a good chance that the bill to repeal the online gambling ban will go through this time around.

Published on 02/21/2009