For once I do not know for sure that you are right, Professor.
I consider views like (as expressed on CAP earlier) 888 stopping to take US players because they want to lower the cost of potential Mergers and Acquisitions quite reasonable.
It can be that legal advise led to the new policy, but it could also be a little piece of game theory. The latter options might even be the better one…
EDIT: About the billions of losses in shareholder value, if for example 888 is playing a strategic game, then they also know that share prices will get corrected eventually. The situation might even be a nice opportunity to buy-in some shares, given their big cash balance. It is less attractive for them to fund M&A’s with shares now though.