Bush may be gone, but his confused legacy endures. With the June 1 ‘D-Day’ for enforcement of the UIGEA regs now upon us, credit card processing networks are tasked with having “reasonably designed policies and procedures” to examine all the transactions they handle for signs of ‘illegal’ gambling activity — activity that the UIGEA doesn’t actually define as illegal. They must also distinguish between gambling the feds don’t like (via international betting firms) and gambling they do like (state-sponsored online horse- and dog-race betting). Got that? No, neither do the financial institutions, but there’s more.
The mandate “does not specify when transactions must be limited or accounts closed, only that the institution should have procedures in place.” Fuck me… Can anyone explain how financial institutions can be expected to observe the letter of the law when the Feds themselves can’t spell out what’s allowed and what isn’t? What the hell did Mastercard get for their $820K lobbying tab last quarter — better seats at the White House Correspondent’s dinner? Read more.
