PartyGaming Agree to Settlement

Top online casino company PartyGaming has reached an agreement with the US Attorney's Office (USAO) to pay a sum of $105 million to avoid prosecution under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

The amount equates to fines leveled at the company for the provision of "Internet gambling services to customers in the US prior to the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) on 13 October 2006."

Paying Their Way Out of a Crisis
Following payment of this heavy fine to the Attorney's Office, PartyGaming has essentially entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the US government. This agreement enables PartyGaming to avoid prosecution of its activities or those of any of its subsidiaries.

Under the agreement, the USAO will not charge PartyGaming for providing Internet casino services to American customers prior to the release of the UIGEA.

Future Optimism
PartyGaming has agreed to pay the fine in semi-annual installments until the final day of September, 2012. The fine must be settled out of existing funds, and cannot be paid out of projected income.

While many see the fine as excessive, PartyGaming themselves have weighed up the pros and cons and realise that they had no choice but to reach the settlement if they wanted to stay afloat. Many industry partners will breathe a sigh of relief at the PartyGaming settlement which signals a measure of flexibility coming from US authorities, and provides future hope for government and industry cooperation.