UIGEA tensions rise between Antigua and US

The spat between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States over the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) escalated yesterday as Antiguan authorities sought to impose a $3.4 billion sanction against the US.

Officials in Antigua and Barbuda claim that the United States is in the wrong because the UIGEA was deemed illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

However, the US has pronounced the sanctions excessive as the revenue created by the gambling industry in Antigua and Barbuda comes in at about $130 million.

The UIGEA, which was introduced last October, outlawed payment by bank or credit card companies to internet casinos, poker rooms and other online gambling companies.

The United States has been at loggerheads with the WTO over its gambling laws since 2003.

Earlier this week, Antiguan newspaper The Antiguan Sun reported that the UIGEA has resulted in the withdrawal of a number of public gaming operators from the gambling market there.

The newspaper was told by Antigua and Barbuda’s former gaming director Ron Maginley that: “I was informed by a couple of gaming companies that some jurisdictions have already started to close gaming accounts.

“Already, some companies here have been given notice. Under the law here, gaming companies are required to put ‘gaming’ in their names and in relation to getting accounts, certainly the local banks here are showing reluctance to offer new accounts, even to companies registered here.

"That is made even worse internationally where a number of banks are simply refusing to either continue providing or to provide new accounts to gaming companies.”

The long-term affects of the UIEGA remain to be seen but it is likely that it will affect the gambling industry world-wide. A number of Bills have recently been tabled in the US seeking to relax the prohibitive laws there.

Casino News: UIGEA tensions rise between Antigua and US

UIGEA tensions rise between Antigua and US