UIGEA Becomes even more Unclear
While Americans have been caught up in celebrations for the new president-elect, Barack Obama, the department of Treasury and Federal Reserve have been busy passing through alterations on the original Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006. Instead of addressing concerns raised by gamers, lobbyists and even politicians such as Barney Frank, the Federal Reserve have blundered on, now placing all the qualms of the question "what is unlawful internet gambling?" on to the already floundering U.S banks.
This aforementioned question has been a thorn in the side of the Federal Reserve for some time and these new regulations do nothing to shed light, or even partially answer this difficult question.
Banks are now being advised that when they see a "suspicious" looking transaction that could be internet gaming related they should phone or e-mail the customer asking what the transaction is for. Whether customers will actually respond to their questioning though is another matter, as most online users know to display scepticism and quickly press the 'delete' button when an e-mail supposedly from your bank enquires about your spending.
U.S banks have now found themselves between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, they don't wish to ask what their customers are up to, but on the other, the Federal Reserve have not supplied the banks with any information on known internet gambling sites, instead they are asking them to apply "due diligence". How bankers can apply "due diligence" when they aren't even sure of what they are looking for is another, entirely different, problem that has emerged with these new regulations.
The Republican party have been criticised for pushing through this new rule and all the evidence points to the fact that Bush & co. are desperate to push this through, before Obama and his new cabinet have a chance to veto it. Even the date of when this regulation comes into practise, January 19th 2009, a day before Obama is sworn in, suggests foul play.
The banks however, have until December 1st 2009 to put these new rules into practise and estimates have suggested it will cost them a whopping $100 million a year extra, an excess that is obviously unwelcome in the current U.S economic market. There is some hope for U.S banks though, as Obama has promised to review all of the regulations passed through by the Republican party during this "lame-duck" period and remove them from practise, if necessary.
However, if you don't fancy waiting around for the UIGEA to change, why not check out Golden Casino, which welcomes US players.
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