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Heated Political Lobbying Led to Finalization of Internet Gambling Ban
By Brian Monroe
printAs 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. The rules - stemming from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), passed in 2006 - require that financial institutions monitor for and block transactions tied to illegal offshore gambling operations. Financial sector associations have said that implementing the requirements will greatly ramp up compliance costs for financial institutions. That the U.S. Treasury Department issued the finalized rules on November 12, amid widespread financial...
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