circus and genting closing doors to Canadians

[DepositSpinLose]

as of oct 17th, circus and genting will close all Canadian accounts. not real sure what it's about, something about jurisdiction not allowed anymore. so sad, circus was an awesome playtech casino.

 

[cdomi66]

as of oct 17th, circus and genting will close all Canadian accounts. not real sure what it's about, something about jurisdiction not allowed anymore. so sad, circus was an awesome playtech casino.

Will suck if we can't play Playtech anymore

 

[rainmaker]

.

Yeah, I got the same message. I have an account there, never used it so it is not a huge loss for me personally. But it is sad for those who have been loyal customers. Their accounts will now be closed.

Bit strange since online gambling is perfectly legal in Norway (from a players point of view). So I really do not understand their decision.

 

[Silencio]

Canada and Norway ?!?

Why do I have to read all the latest news here, well I don't mind, just wish they would give a ratts #ss and inform their affiliates as well.. Same goes for the paddy power switch to playtech.

Wish all casino's would create an easy accessible listing, with a similar layout and placement, at all online casinos, so it was easy to see which countries are restricted.. Like Kerching for instance, I'm trying to add the brand, says on the site like 8 countries restricted, so I try and signup myself > your region is restricted Write it the .... down ...
*cool-down-time..*

 

[The Dude]

GentingAl responded earlier to my PM with this:

...We have been informed by head office in Asia, that they wish to add a number of countries to the banned countries list for the online business. These include Canada, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Norway and Russia.

Another day in the world of online gaming

 

[chayton]

GentingAl responded earlier to my PM with this:
Another day in the world of online gaming

Is this going to be the same for ALL Playtechs, do you think?

 

[Simmo!]

Is this going to be the same for ALL Playtechs, do you think?

Unlikely I would think or we would have heard more from elsewhere already I'm sure. It's probably because Genting have land-based interests they want to protect.

 

[vinylweatherman]

I didn't know Genting was an ASIAN company I thought it was "british".

It seems they don't like "grey areas", and not being illegal is not good enough. It seems it has to have some explicit legality for a country to be accepted. Canada has always been one of these grey areas, with various states arguing that it is illegal for casinos to offer their services, even though it is not illegal for players to use these services.

Countries like Norway seem to want to make it illegal, and are trying to make life complicated for offshore operators.

I expect Genting is one of those brands that have many vested interests, and rely on being on good terms with a number of governments when it comes to negotiating deals both land based and online.

Other softwares have pulled out of Canada because of fears they will fall foul of the rather "grey" nature of their legality.

What is annoying is that in most cases, there is very little or no notice to the people who are affected the most, players and affiliates.

 

[jetset]

I've had almost the same response as Bryan from Genting, and it is surprising that they are giving players such short notice, and have not bothered to explain themselves in their communications with their customers...not unusual among operators in this industry, I'm afraid.

This is all they have told me:

"Unfortunately due to changes in the legal situation in certain jurisdictions we are unable to accept business from players based in the follwing countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Greece, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain after the 17the Of October.

"We understand that this may cause confusion, and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused."

So its something to do with their regulatory strategies, I imagine.

This is a Malaysian company with a British division, which bought up British gambling companies some time back.

 

[rainmaker]

Good morning people,

It is legal to play online in Norway. The only restriction we have is that Norwegian banks are not allowed to accept transactions marked with the MCC code 7995 (gambling related). So a gambling related company can not operate from Norway, but it is legal to offer gambling online to Norwegian customers. If a bank should accept any 7995 transactions then it is the bank who has violated Norwegian laws and not the gambling company. The responsibility lies with the financial operators to block these transactions. But this block does not mean it is illegal to play online. The 7995 block is not a problem for Norwegian customers since most casinos who targets Norwegian customers will use a payment processor who is not obligated to mark their transactions with this code. That is also why I, as a Norwegian customer can use my credit card at most online casinos who targets the Norwegian market.

But as VWM said, the Norwegian government is trying to make it complicated

I find it a bit strange that Genting uses this ("situation in your jurisdiction") as an justification for closing down their online shops for Norwegian customers.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Good morning people,

It is legal to play online in Norway. The only restriction we have is that Norwegian banks are not allowed to accept transactions marked with the MCC code 7995 (gambling related). So a gambling related company can not operate from Norway, but it is legal to offer gambling online to Norwegian customers. If a bank should accept any 7995 transactions then it is the bank who has violated Norwegian laws and not the gambling company. The responsibility lies with the financial operators to block these transactions. But this block does not mean it is illegal to play online. The 7995 block is not a problem for Norwegian customers since most casinos who targets Norwegian customers will use a payment processor who is not obligated to mark their transactions with this code. That is also why I, as a Norwegian customer can use my credit card at most online casinos who targets the Norwegian market.

But as VWM said, the Norwegian government is trying to make it complicated

I find it a bit strange that Genting uses this ("situation in your jurisdiction") as an justification for closing down their online shops for Norwegian customers.

Perhaps this is what worries them. Strictly, these processors are tricking the banks into letting the deposits through by finding a processor willing to miscode, or not code, the transactions. It seems many of the other countries added to their ban list need similar "trickery" via their processors to get deposits to go through smoothly.

I expect they want to be "whiter than white" in anticipation of a global rethink on the industry, and can say they opted out rather than resorted to trickery in order to stay in business. It is similar to the belief that the US will eventually introduce regulation, but will not give licenses to any company that resorted to trickery during the UIGEA's operation. They may feel that a small sacrifice of market regions now will reap much bigger rewards in the future.

Oddly enough, I don't see France in that list, unless they had banned France already. France is now granting licenses to offshore operators who want to operate there, although it comes with having to pay some form of tax on French sourced profits.

I wonder if they are so particular about their Asian markets, as many countries there have a similar legal situation, with governments seeking to crack down on offshore operators. However, these markets are large and profitable.