[F I N A N C E
NEWS
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VIEWPOINT
RAY DAVIES HEAD OF EGAMING DEVELOPMENT
at the Department of Economic Development, Isle of Man Government
The recent news that Media Corp-owned, Malta-based gambling group Purple Lounge is to be placed into liquidation, with substantial player losses “expected”, serves as an unwelcome reminder of Black Friday one year on. On 15 April 2011 thousands of players found their deposited “unplayed” funds suddenly subject to asset freezes as part of a US Department of Justice investigation. The more recent situation with Purple Lounge demonstrates that the regulatory issues raised by Black Friday have not gone away, and until better regulation becomes the norm, events such as these will continue to cause concerns and tension within the industry. Players who have recently looked at the Purple Lounge website are being advised to contact the liquidator to get some, if not all, of their money returned. However there are no guarantees. While this process is likely to be time consuming, the players will inevitably incur more costs as liquidations tend to take time to run their course. This was not the case for customers of Isle of Man-based PokerStars, whose players are subject to 100% protection of funds, as are the players of every licence holder based on the island. It reacted quickly to the decision by the DoJ and players’ funds were returned within days. Fair and crime-free gaming, reputable operators and receiving your winnings isn’t much for a player to ask for. Jurisdictions can’t be expected to regulate for every eventuality, but what we may expect is for them to set regulations that identify and offer protection for the crucial aspects of gaming.
GIB BODY HIRES LAWYERS TO FIGHT UK TAX PROPOSALS
Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association spends £500k to hire two QCs
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