GOOD NEWS FROM FRANCE (Update)

5 February 2010

Requirement to shut customer accounts abandoned

One of the more controversial provisions in France's new gambling liberalisation legislation - that applicants shut down their existing lists of French player accounts as a prerequisite to obtaining a French online gambling licence - has been abandoned by the French Senate.

The ruling would have disadvantaged applying companies vs. presently authorised French gambling firms such as the state-owned Francaise des Jeux (see previous InfoPowa reports).

iGaming France this week quoted Senator Francois Trucy as reporting that the provision had been rejected by French legislators as the Senate's finance commission began the final stage of examining the draft law.

Lawmakers are under the gun in France to finalise the liberalisation law in time for licenses to be issued before the key betting activity around the World Cup football championships, which start mid-year in South Africa.

iGaming France reported Trucy as saying: "The issue of the closure of French accounts is not in question; operators will be able to carry on working with French players between the law being passed and licenses being handed out".

He pointed out, however, that successful licence applicants will be required to transfer all players over to their sites with an .fr extension once the law was in force.

Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa

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