US banks doubt viability of UIGEA

Debate over the regulations being offered by the US Treasury in support of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has been spiced up by the release of a negative document by the American Banking Association (ABA) doubting the viability of enforcing the controversial legislation.

Online bingo industry observers and online bingo halls hurt by the implementation of UIGEA will be interested that the ABA's submission to the US Treasury has raised issues of enough severity to question long-term successful implementation of UIGEA.

UIGEA seeks to disrupt financial transactions between online gambling operators and US-based players which effectively places the onus on financial institutions to police those transactions.  The ABA is doubtful of the practicality of this aspect of UIGEA.

The ABA's report comments that: "ABA believes that the proposal, in large part due to the nature of the statute itself, will fail to create a practical process for intercepting prohibited conduct that maintains an efficiently functioning payments system." In further comment the report continues"....UIGEA will in the end catch more banks in a compliance trap and do greater damage to the competitiveness of the American payments system, than it will stop gambling enterprises from profiting on illegal wagering."

UK online bingo games operators were amongst the many online gaming operators that were materially hurt by UIGEA when it was implemented in late 2006 with many online bingo halls having to withdraw from the US market to avoid legal action.