Bipartisan Group Sends Letter Seeking Delay in UIGEA rule Imple

[Mousey]

I subscribe to the FSD update/newsletter thingy... received this email today....

October 2, 2009


Bipartisan Group Sends Letter to Bernanke, Geithner Seeking Delay in UIGEA rule Implementation


Washington, DC – Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA), Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Peter King (R-NY), Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Melvin Watt (D-NC), Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee Ranking Member Ron Paul (R-TX), and Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member Judy Biggert (R-IL) - along with 13 other members of the Financial Services Committee - sent a letter yesterday to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking them to respond favorably under their Administrative Procedure Act authority to delay implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) regulations for one year. The members referred to the regulations as an “unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis.”



In May, Chairman Frank introduced legislation to delay the implementation of regulations pursuant to the 2006-passed UIGEA, which are set to go into effect December 1, 2009. The regulations were completed by the Bush Administration at the last minute, and the legislation will stop federal regulators from enforcing the UIGEA until Congress has had a chance to decide national policy. Chairman Frank has also introduced H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009, that would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling operators could obtain licenses authorizing them to accept bets and wagers from individuals in the United States.



To read a full text of the letter, click here.

[Mousey]

And... Reuters picked up on it....

U.S. lawmakers urge delay in Internet gambling rules
Posted on - Fri Oct 2, 2009 6:10PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and other lawmakers on Friday urged regulators to delay the December 1 implementation of financial rules to enforce a ban on Internet gambling.

Enforcing the rules in two months time would put an unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, the lawmakers said.

"We are writing to strongly urge you to ... to extend the date of compliance for the final regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act by one year," the lawmakers said in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Congress passed the anti-gambling legislation in 2006, when Republicans still controlled both the House and the Senate. Most of the 19 lawmakers who signed the letter are sponsors of legislation to overturn the ban.

The bipartisan group included Republicans Ron Paul of Texas, Judy Biggert of Illinois and Peter King of New York.

A spokeswoman from the Federal Reserve said they had received the letter and would respond to it. There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Treasury.

The 2006 law, which cost European Internet gambling...

[lots0]

I subscribe to the FSD update/newsletter thingy...

and I thought I was a political geek...