The US Black Friday online poker indictments may move the French government and regulator to “become less shy” when it comes to punishing unregulated operations, a leading French barrister told a gaming conference earlier today.
If you managed to drag yourself away from Microgaming’s excellent bar facilities at today’s EGR Live conference in the centre of the iGaming industry, London, Lise Breteau, Avocat a la Cour at ULYS, was speaking at a seminar on “Changing Regulations and Trends.”
In conjunction with Tyrone Perry, Head of Betting and Gaming at Ukash, the seminar looked at trends in a number of jurisdictions and how this will affect companies going forwards.
When questioned on money laundering, Breteau commented, “[Money Laundering] is the main issue in France and, after the US Black Friday indictments, the French regulator will look closer and be a lot more sensitive to issues involving money laundering.”
She then added that after what happened in the US, the government and regulator “may become less shy” when it comes to blocking operators who are operating unregulated.
As far as Perry and Ukash are concerned, France is a “special case” and, thanks to the goalposts being moved more times than in a match fixing scandal, it is very “confusing.”
Ukash is continuing to focus on the cash cow of Latin America but is becoming increasingly unsure of the Spanish marketplace. Perry commented that, “we still don’t know where we are Spain but assume that our UK FSA (Financial Services Authority) approval would apply in that jurisdiction.”
He added, “I believe Spain has moved very quickly but am concerned about how it will do and where we will find ourselves.”
We will have more on EGR Live later today and for the latest on the EGR Awards this evening check back on the tablog. In the meantime the Microgaming Bar isn’t running dry so get yourself over there!
