A proposed law to monitor cross-border electronic money transfers has U.S. online poker players concerned about their future this week. The proposal was the subject of a recent New York Times article.
In an attempt to prevent terrorist financing and money laundering from taking place in the United States, the Treasury Department proposed regulations that would require banks to make weekly reports of all electronic money transfers into and out of the U.S. along with the social security numbers of those making the transactions. While online poker players aren’t assumed to be the key targets, the law would likely include any transfer made to and from online poker sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
Currently, banks and financial institutions are required to report international electronic funds transfers in excess of $10,000 to the Federal Government. If this proposal were implemented, however, every international electronic funds transfer, both to and from the United States, would be reported.
“By establishing a centralized database, this regulatory plan will greatly assist law enforcement in detecting and ferreting out transnational organized crime, multinational drug cartels, terrorist financing, and international tax evasion,” said Director James Freis Jr. of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a subdivision of the Treasury Department. Freis gave his comments to the Times in a Monday article.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) went into full effect in June and restricts banks and other financial institutions from accepting transactions to and from illegal online gambling institutions. Most banks, though, have said it would be next to impossible to keep track of every transaction, as most are small and not worth monitoring. The minimum deposit and withdrawal for most U.S.-facing online poker sites, for example, is $50.
According to reports, it would cost $33 million to build a structure to monitor transactions from banks and financial institutions into and out of the United States.
The result of the surveillance could be disastrous for online poker players. If a third-party payment processor is under investigation for illegal gambling-related transactions, players can easily be tied to the company if they’ve made a transaction through an online poker site. A simple check of a social security number could implicate a player who took part in the illegal transaction.
This news comes at a trying period for online poker players in the U.S. Earlier this week, PokerStars made the decision to no longer accept cash players from the state of Washington after the Washington State Supreme Court upheld a harsh internet gambling prohibition. Another decision involving the Kentucky Supreme Court called for the owners of internet gambling operations show up in court to establish legal standing if they don’t want the Commonwealth to seize the domain names of their websites. Back in 2008, the Kentucky tried to seize 141 online gambling domains that it claimed were operating illegally in the state.
Poker News Daily will continue to follow the latest poker-related headlines on Capitol Hill. Stay tuned.
