UK-based online gambling firm Sportingbet has announced that it is moving the group’s operations to the Channel Islands, largely because of uncertainty over the operational requirements due in September’s Gambling Act 2005.

A statement from the company said that the board had chosen the Channel Islands because of the more defined regulatory environment, and that it will have left the UK by 1 September.
Sportingbet, which has been forced to reorganise the structure of its business since the US introduced the Unlawful Gaming Enforcement Act last year, added that it expected to incur a £13.5 million charge as a result of the move.

In related news Bwin management dismissed a report by Austrian daily WirtschaftsBlatt, which claimed that Sportingbet could become a core shareholder in Bwin, as “pure speculation.”

A spokesperson for the Austrian online gaming firm did confirm that talks over the proposed purchase of Sportingbet were still progressing.
Tags: Online Gambling News, UK Gambling, Sportingbet News, Internet Gambling

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 9:03 pm and is filed under Gambling Industry News, Online Bookies, Online Casino, Online Poker, Sports Betting, UK/Great Britain Gambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.