Bankers support Frank attack on UIGEA

Support for Barney Frank's attack on the current Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) has been coming from the US banking industry according to and article in The Hill, a Washington DC publication.

US Treasury officials have admitted that drafting the regulations for UIGEA are proving problematic and are being made more difficult by the strong opposition of the financial industry that will be required by UIGEA to act as policeman for the US government.

"I don't know what can be done or will be done legislatively, but we certainly appreciate the interest," said American Bankers Association lobbyist Floyd Stoner, of Frank's new andti-UIGEA legislation.

"While I do disagree with the underlying objective of the act (UIGEA), I believe that even those who agree with it ought to be concerned about the regulations' impact," Frank said in a statement. He has consistently argued that UIGEA's proposed regulations are "...impossible to implement without placing a significant burden on the payments system and financial institutions."

Non-US online bingo games operators and online bingo halls were badly hit by the implementation of UIGEA in late 2006 which seeks to disrupt financial transactions between online bingo operators and US customers who want to play online bingo.  A successful change in favour of Frank's new IGREA legislation would see online bingo operators able to return to the world's most lucrative online gaming market.