Banks forced to hand over Internet gaming documents

The U.K. Sunday Times Online is reporting the U.S. Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to 16 international investment banks over the last three months, demanding all documents connected with Internet gaming firms be handed over as part of an ongoing investigation.

The most recent came three weeks ago, the paper reports, but the Department of Justice first started issuing subpoenas in October, only days after the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was signed into legislation.

Issued by the Southern District Court of New York, subpoenas have been sent to firms that had underwritten the initial public offerings of some of the most popular online gambling sites.

HSBC, Dresdner Kleinwort, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are known to be among the sixteen.

Some investors in online gambling companies PartyGaming, Plc. and 888 Holdings, Plc. are also reportedly being asked for information, the Times reports, as part of a push by the Department of Justice to build cases against companies profiting from online gaming in the U.S.

A senior banking source in the U.K. who spoke to the paper anonymously was quoted as saying, "They are going after parties removed several steps from the business of gambling. To pursue say, an adviser on a float, is frankly ridiculous."

News Added: 22 January, 2007

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