Gambling Trade Body Files Legal Challenge To Norwegian Financial Ban

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Jul 6, 2018

EGBA says government ban violates EU treaty on free movement of goods and services between member states

The European Gaming and Betting Association, a trade body that includes most major European gambling groups among its members, has filed a legal challenge in an Oslo court against the Norwegian government‘s bank bans on the processing of international financial transactions with gambling operators.

EGBA claims that interference with such transactions is a contravention of European Union principles regarding the free movement of goods and services between member states.

Maarten Haijer, the managing director of the trade body, told local media that the ban was additionally a violation of Norwegian law, and in a Twitter post urged the Norwegian authorities to “design a policy for online gaming which is modern, protects consumers and reflects the reality of the digital age.”

The EGBA filing points out that under Norwegian law online gamblers do not commit an offence in using international gambling websites, but the government claims that the payment processing ban was a logical consequence imposed in conjunction with existing prohibitions on unlicensed gambling in Norway.

Brian Cullingworth

Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.

We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.

His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.


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