Fed-Treasury Move Could Re-define Online Gambling Law

The compliance deadline on rules that would limit credit card and other payment methods on some forms of Internet gambling has been extended by six months, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury said in a combined statement. 

Federal officials were responding to concerns from members of Congress and associations representing financial institutions, many of which process credit card payments. The compliance deadline has been moved from Dec. 1 to June 1, although most petitioners had asked for a full year’s extension.

“…December 1, 2009 will not be achievable for many regulated entities, despite their good-faith efforts to achieve full compliance,” the federal agencies said. The agencies added that there was no “sufficient data or documentation to justify a twelve-month extension of the compliance date.”

The payment compliance issue is a significant one for both proponents and opponents of online gambling. And many members of Congress are seeking to revise the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, passed in 2006. The law makes it a crime for financial institutions to process financial transactions that are used to place bets online.

The law has been criticized for not distinguishing between legal and illegal online gambling sites. 

Many states allow online betting on horse and dog racing. Some even allow the purchase of lottery tickets from designated websites. Some members of Congress now acknowledge that the Act does not contain a clear definition of “unlawful Internet gambling.”

“In particular, the six month extension of the compliance period will facilitate the establishment of policies and procedures that require gambling businesses to document the legality of their activities to regulated entities,” the Fed and Treasury said.

The following entities supported an extension of the compliance deadline: three gambling industry associations – the Poker Players Alliance, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Owners Association; Wells Fargo; the American Bankers Association; Credit Union National Association; National Association of Federal Credit Unions; Independent Community Bankers of America; and members of Congress.

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