House Finance chair wants to overturn online gambling ban

WASHINGTON — The chair of the House Financial Services Committee is considering legislation that would overturn the ban on online gambling passed last fall.

A spokesman for Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said Wednesday the congressman may introduce a bill to reverse the Internet gambling law, but stressed there is nothing concrete yet.

“There’s no draft, no text — this is very much still in the thinking stage,” said spokesman Steve Adamske.

The Financial Times quoted Frank Wednesday saying that the law, formally known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, is “preposterous” and one of the “stupidest” ever passed.

Attached to a larger security bill last October, the act makes it illegal for U.S. banks and credit-card companies to process payments to online gambling businesses outside the United States.

The legislation caught many British-based companies off guard, causing companies like Sportingbet PLC and Leisure & Gaming PLC to sell their U.S. operations.

A spokesman for Partygaming PLC, the largest online poker business in the world, declined to comment on Frank’s remarks.

The Gibraltar-based company released 2006 earnings earlier this month of $128.4 million, down $293.2 million from the prior year.

Shares of Sportingbet rose 3 pounds, or 5.4 percent, to 58.75 pounds ($113.70) on the London Stock Exchange while Partygaming rose 4.75 pounds, 12.5 percent, to 42.75 pounds ($82.76). Leisure & Gaming shares fell 25 pence, or 2.5 percent, to 10.25 pounds ($19.30).