Bulgarian Ministry of Finance submitted proposals that would regulate and tax online betting following a recent review. According to one of its major newspapers, Trud, the nation has been considering a more pragmatic approach to online gambling. Trud newspaper said a more pragmatic approach has been considered for over a year as hundreds of millions of dollars are thought to leak through online gambling sites untaxed.

European trade chief Peter Mandelson has called on the US to allow European companies renewed access to its multibillion-dollar online gambling industry. Mandelson pushed for an end to the exclusion of European companies and other trading partners from the US online gambling market, arguing that it is a better and fairer solution than compensation.

London/Munich, November 23, 2007: The gambling markets in South and Latin America have so far largely been uncharted territory on the strategic maps of many global gambling companies. But as the global market environments and regulations change rapidly, more and more eyes (e.g., Internet gambling heavyweight Bwin in Argentina and Mexico) also turn to alternative gambling markets beyond the traditional key markets in the US and Europe.

Norway’s government has proposed an amendment to its existing gambling laws that would make it illegal for Norwegian financial institutions to process payments for online gaming websites. A spokesperson for the government said the proposed change was necessary to clarify the part of the law that rules companies were prohibited from engaging mediating for internet gambling services.

The Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) pressure group, Alfonse D’Amato, has announced that he expects online poker to be legalized in the US within 18 months. Speaking at G2E, the former US Senator said that pending sanctions by the World Trade Organization due to The White House’s current policy on Internet gambling could be the major driver for legalization.

Hillary Clinton has received the support of some powerful and influential gambling executives in Las Vegas. Her campaign has announced the formation of the Nevada Business Leadership Council which is headed by Jan Jones, a former Las Vegas Mayor and a current lobbyist for Harrah’s Entertainment. Phil Sartre, former chairman and CEO of Harrah’s, Howard Lefkowitz, CEO of Vegas.com, Henry Terry...

Macau’s chief executive said on Wednesday that he plans to raise the minimum age at which a person can gamble to 21 years from the current 18. The Standard said Edmund Ho Hau-wah revealed the plan to lawmakers, who were surprised because the Macau leader did not mention it in his policy address on Tuesday. Ho did not say when he will start working on a law imposing the higher age requirement for gamblers.

It was held “State of the Industry: Internet Gambling at the Crossroads” keynote session at G2E, in which panelists said pending sanctions by the WTO due to US policy on Internet gambling could be the major driver for legalization. On the heels of today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill proposing an independent study on the feasibility of legalizing and regulating online gambling...

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve continue to finalize a new rule that would put the onus on banks to help crack down on online gambling by US citizens, a Treasury official said Wednesday. In prepared remarks, Deputy Assistant Secretary Valerie Abend said banking regulators are focusing their efforts on banks that do business with gambling companies, as well as the interaction between US banks and foreign banks that may be tied to online gambling.

Washington, D.C. (November 13, 2007) – Tomorrow the House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to examine the United States policies as they relate to Internet gaming. Annie Duke, one of the top poker players in the world will testify before the Committee on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister says he is hopeful that weekend meetings with members of the U.S. Congress would help resolve an ongoing trade battle with the United States over Internet gambling. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer discussed the dispute with New York Democrat Representative Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and three other members of the Congressional Black Caucus Sunday on the sidelines of a regional business conference.

The United States must change an Internet gambling law that discriminates against European companies by preventing them from offering services in the U.S. market, the European Union’s top trade official said last week. "What we need to see is a change in U.S. legislation that removes that discrimination against EU operators," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told reporters before heading to Capitol Hill to discuss the issue with U.S. lawmakers.