PartyGaming Scraps Planned Interim Dividend
Gibraltar-based PartyGaming announced on Tuesday that following the decision
taken by its Board to suspend all real money gaming business with US residents
upon the Safe Port Act being signed into law by President Bush, which is expected
within the next two weeks, the Board has decided to cancel the interim dividend
that was due to be paid on 31 October 2006. In a statement, the online gaming firm explained that: "The Board believes that cancellation of the interim dividend will allow
the Company to take advantage of the many attractive opportunities in the sector
that will emerge over the coming months. In due course the Board will review
the appropriate dividend policy for the ongoing Group." Online gaming firms were rocked last weekend by the news that the US Congress
had approved legislation effectively banning all online gaming, by making it
illegal for banks and credit card firms to make payments to such internet operations. The online gaming provisions were tacked by Senate Majority Leader, Bill Frist
(R-Tenn) onto the unrelated Safe Port Act. Commenting on the passage of the legislation, Frist argued that: "Gambling is a serious addiction that undermines the family, dashes dreams,
and frays the fabric of society. Congress has grappled with this issue for 10
years, and during that time we've watched this shadow industry explode. For
me as majority leader, the bottom line is simple: Internet gambling is illegal.
Although we can't monitor every online gambler or regulate offshore gambling,
we can police the financial institutions that disregard our laws." Shares of publicly quoted gaming companies fell dramatically on the London and other stock exchanges, A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series examining offshore e-commerce and online gaming is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report6.asp
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