• Financial Times, Tuesday, December 18, 2007 11 AM

Online gambling companies in the European Union were dealt another harsh blow yesterday after regulators agreed to a compensation deal with the U.S. for shutting foreign companies out of the country's gambling industry. Sadly for gaming companies, they benefited in no way from the trade. The U.S. extended opportunities for European businesses to compete in the following sectors: U.S. postal and courier, research and development, storage and warehouse. Members of the disappointed online gaming industry said the EU had now lost the chance to open up the $15 billion a year U.S. gambling market.

The crackdown began in October of last year when the U.S. made it illegal for credit card companies to process online gambling transactions for American cardholders, a move that effectively closed the market to offshore betting companies. Since then, several smaller outfits have been forced to close, while share prices for larger betting companies have been volatile.

The U.S. resistance to online gambling has been branded as disingenuous by the World Trade Organization, which ordered that the U.S. compensate the EU in some manner for shutting foreign companies out of a potentially lucrative market. A spokeswoman for the U.S. trade rep said she was confident that the compensation package provided WTO members with economic opportunities "at least as valuable" as the U.S. gambling market.

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