- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Washington, DC – House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today wrote to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Board of Governors Chairman Ben Bernanke asking them to postpone issuing regulations pursuant to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act.
Frank wrote, “I am deeply disappointed to hear that your agency is proceeding with what I consider to be unseemly haste in issuing regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This midnight rulemaking will tie the hands of the new Administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee”
The full text of Chairman Frank’s letters as follows:
November 10, 2008
The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220Dear Mr. Secretary:
I am deeply disappointed to hear that your agency is proceeding with what I consider to be unseemly haste in issuing regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This midnight rulemaking will tie the hands of the new Administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee
As you know, at our April hearing, the testimony of your representatives and the industry indicated that it would be particularly difficult to craft workable regulations to effectively enforce the statute without having a substantial adverse effect on the payments system. Subsequently, my colleagues and I introduced legislation (HR 5767, later HR 6870) that would prohibit the implementation of these flawed rules and replace them with a formal rulemaking process that would define the term “unlawful internet gambling,” something the proposed rules fail to do. HR 6870 was passed by the Financial Services Committee on September 16.
The proposed regulations, like the underlying UIGEA statute, fail to define the term “unlawful internet gambling,” leaving it to each financial institution to reconcile conflicting state and federal laws, court decisions and inconsistent Department of Justice interpretations when determining whether to process a transaction. Furthermore, some of the information needed to make this determination would likely be unavailable to banks because customers or financial institutions in foreign jurisdictions will likely be unwilling or unable to provide it.
I strongly urge you to delay implementation of these major, and deeply flawed regulations to permit the incoming Administration the ability to review the consequences of such a significant policy decision, rather than unfairly being denied that opportunity.
BARNEY FRANK
***
November 10, 2008
The Honorable Ben S. Bernanke
Chairman
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
20th & C Streets, NW
Washington, DC 20551Dear Chairman Bernanke:
I submit to you the letter I sent to Treasury. I realize that the implementation of this flawed statute is not a task you requested. I also appreciate the candor with which your representative answered the questions at our hearing, confirming that this is an impossible task. There is no evidence that these issues have been in any way overcome. I strongly urge you not to burden the new Administration with administering a statute which cannot be carried out
BARNEY FRANK
CONTACT INFORMATION:Comment phone number is 202-974-7008.
Go to http://federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/default.htm. Scroll down the bottom and click the contact us form.
Please call the U.S. Federal Reserve and tell them not to approve the UIGEA regulations — Consumer Complaints, 888-851-1920 or Public Affairs, 202-452-2955.
Tell them:
* The federal agencies responsible for our nation’s economy should not be focused on Internet poker regulations.
* Finalization of the UIGEA rules will add additional burdens on our already crippled financial systems.
* Please do not finalize the UIGEA regulations until their impact on our banking systems and average Americans has been fully studied.Your call will make a huge difference and will add the public’s voice to these last minute policy decisions our government is poised to make. We can’t stand idly by while they make decisions that will impact our right to play America’s card game. PLEASE CALL TODAY!
Thanks Luigi!
I made my calls and sent my email. I will also be posting this at my forum for my members to do as well! :hattip:
UIGEA Regs Ordered to be Frozen
Maybe I missed it, but where does it say this was actually Frozen?
That would be great, but, I just see pleas for them to not do the Midnight drop, but I don’t see where it says what the title of this thread says.Can you quote it out please where it says it was frozen. It important to get this right. :confused:
Then again, I have a few beers, so maybe I missed it!:roflmao:
:drunk2:Lawmakers and lobbyists were yesterday urging the White House to freeze
not the quote I would have liked to made
@Luigi 185889 wrote:
I’ve been trying to tell you guys how important this bill is and how substantial of a negative impact it will have on the US banking industry. Everyone says ‘there’s more important things Obama has to worry about’. You guys are completely wrong, and hopefully this article makes it clear just how important this bill is, which proves that it will not take a long time before it is overturned…
who said that this bill is not important? this bill was ridiculed ever since its launch. just because nobody can be bothered to bitch about it today (so much have been said already in the last 2 yrs), doesn’t mean that little importance is given to it.
the question is whether I or you can do anything about it. i, for shit sure, can’t. i’m not american, don’t live in us, never been there, and not going to start calling your senators. not keen on joining your list of terrorists either
your best chance is to gather all your comrades on CAP and start calling…good luck!
Lawmakers and lobbyists were yesterday urging the White House to freeze
Ok, so they were not frozen as the title indicated.
Made my heart jump when I saw that, so I needed clarification.Thanks Steve!
Yup, Barney Frank is once again The Man!
today they stated that Bush will try to make this bill permanent somhow so that Obama cant regulate it and decriminalize it in the future….very bad news,they say that by end of month….
I agree the title is misleading and should be changed. Big thanks to Barney he is the man:hattip:
Everyday I come on CAP to try to find some positive news for once with the U.S., and again just another thing to give me more gray hair!! :Cry:
I’m really just sitting back to see what is going to unfold in the near future, with all this BS who knows what is possible?Anyhow on a good note…my business partner and I are planning on attending our first CAP event in March for spring break. Works out perfect because it’s a day after my birthday and I can’t wait to meet everyone here on the forums.
Does anyone know what resort the event will be held at yet?
Cheers everyone,
BradThe title of the actual article was…
‘Bush urged to freeze ban on online gambling’
Sorry for the misleading title of the thread, I was just going off the original title of the article.
The financial crisis may be related with the possible delay of the UIEGA regulations.
Banks ans credit cards are in a desperate need for transactions to reestablish their assets.
And the future administration too.
