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.
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.
Undercover investigators, acting as a phony payment processor, used U.S. bank accounts to see how offshore gambling operations transacted more than $30 million with their American clients, according to federal prosecutors.
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. 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.
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.
A 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.
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.
Federal regulators finalized rules Wednesday on how financial institutions should monitor and prohibit transactions involving illegal Internet gambling operations.