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UIGEA Law finally to be eneacted and enforced in the United States

The June 17, 2023, By Christopher F. Wood

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) came into effect Tuesday after nearly four years after Congress passed the law under controversial circumstances.

The new law aims to stop the spread of online gambling by preventing credit card companies, banks and other financial institutions from transferring money from and to online casino gambling companies. However, the problem with the laws lies in its ambiguity; it only very loosely defines what actually constitutes online casino gambling.

The hot topic in today’s online casino industry is the big poker firms. Will banks and financial institutions decide any form of online gaming is more trouble than the profits are potentially worth, and refuse to deal with online poker games as well? Indeed, poker, which is considered a skill game and not a game of chance, was one of the reasons that the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve decided to delay till today required compliance with the law by blocking regulations to implement the legislation last November.

“It is likely to make life more difficult for banks — especially small community banks — who will find it a great burden to police transactions that might be related to Internet gambling,” says Kevin Di Gregory, a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips who used to oversee Internet gambling enforcement at the Justice Department. “There are already banks that are refusing to engage in transactions that might be questionable.”

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