Antigua Delegates Meet With Frank Over Internet Gambling Bill

Last evening, the Antigua & Barbuda delegation, which includes ministers Dr. Errol Cort and Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro, ambassadors Deborah-Mae Lovell and John Ashe and consul-generals Ian Sweeney and McChesney Emanuel, were scheduled to meet with Congressman Barney Frank, United States House of Representative Financial Services Committee Chairman.

Chairman Frank has legislative jurisdiction over the payment systems used to facilitate Internet gambling and he is the sponsor of new legislation that would legalise and regulate Internet gambling in the United States.

Language of Frank's Bill HR2046 has caused some to worry that it would rule out offshore gambling operations that were not present in the United States. Others believed the US would make licensing available but biased towards US companies, all situations which would not solve Antigua and Barbuda's issues with the US in the WTO.

Antigua and Barbuda's meeting with Frank last night was meant to have the Frank legislation deem Antigua's and Barbuba's regulatory system "compliant" with any US regulatory system that is put in place as a result of the legislation.

A new law in the US that excludes the tiny island nations would allow Antigua and Barbuda to continue with their compensation plans that they announced earlier in the day that would see more than $3.4 billion a year go to the countries from the US.

June 20, 2007
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com    Previous Page | Internet Gambling | Top Online Casinos | Submit News!