UK Rejects Kahnawake and Antigua for White List- No UK Online Poker Ads for Many Sites

The UK's Gambling Commission's latest newsletter relayed that the Canadian Kahnawake Mohawk Territory and Antigua have been rejected in their bid to be white-listed so their online poker and online gambling operators could advertise in the UK, but Tasmania was approved.

Kahnawake Territory is located just across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal in the Canadian province of Quebec, housing the only real-money online gambling in North America. To date it has issued over 400 online gambling licenses, and claims to represent about 60% of the world's online gaming business.

No specific reason for the rejection was given, though online-casinos noted that the Mohawks of Kahnawake have been the target of player criticism regarding poor communications for years, and have made some controversial judgments.

Antigua has similarly been accused of poor response levels to complaints from players. Antigua, as you may recall, has been embroiled in a dispute with the United States since 2003 when it first lodged its complaint to the World Trade Organization that their online gambling operators were being prevented from entering the lucrative US market place.

The newsletter merely says about the rejections, "After careful assessment of their representations against the published criteria, the Secretary of State has also decided not to whitelist Kahnawake (Canadian reservation) or Antigua."

TASMANIA APPROVED TO WHITE LIST

The Tasmanian government received approval to be added to the 'White List' of countries and jurisdictions permitted to advertise remote gambling in the UK as if it were an EEA state. The approval came after reassessment after Tasmania amended legislation to their tax regime. A full assessment of their application was made to ensure it met the Government's 'Whitelisting' criteria published in January 2007.

Regulations have been laid in Parliament and will come into effect on 31 January 2008. After this date, gambling operators licensed in Tasmania will be able to advertise their remote gambling services in the United Kingdom.

SO WHO ELSE IS ON WHITE LIST?

The States of Alderney and the Isle of Man are the only two other jurisdictions to have previously been added to the White List. An announcement was made on this decision in August 2007.

So only the gambling operators licensed in EEA countries (which includes popular gaming juridictions Gibraltar and Malta), as well as those in Alderney, Isle of Man or Tasmania can lawfully advertise gambling in the UK.

The decision will undoubtedly cause online companies licensed by Antigua and Kahnawake to consider the growing trend to switch their licensing to EEA jurisdictions to take advantage of the UK market, as well as the rest of the 27 nation European Union (EU) as it opens its borders to EU-based online gambling operators, thanks to the efforts of the European Commission, headed by former Irish finance minister Charlie McCreevy.

Read Related Articles: