The Norwegian Government maintains that remote gambling presents a greater threat to levels of gambling addiction in Norwegian society than the slot machine sector it brought under state control in July 2007 and is confident that the proposed blanket ban on all gambling transactions will thus stand up to scrutiny of Norway’s free-trade commitments under the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement.

The Norwegian Government has formally submitted its proposed online gambling payments ban for a parliamentary vote. The restrictions recently drew criticism from the European Commission in Brussels who view them as disproportionate, but strongly negative local press coverage demonising online gambling websites has raised the possibility of further ISP blocking measures being introduced in Norway.

The Norwegian government has announced that it is looking to ban money transfers to foreign online gambling companies but the move has been greeted with scepticism by operators and by politicians alike.

While MPs have now finally backed plans to forcibly prohibit Norwegian banks from processing financial transactions connected to offshore gaming websites, observers believe the ban will not come into full effect until mid-2009, as financial institutions continue to lobby for further regulatory guidance from the government.

In the final part of a survey of global internet gambling payments bans, GamblingCompliance looks at recent measures taken in Norway and Holland that would oblige banks to block online gambling transactions. The success or failure of these two projects could determine the viability of payments bans throughout Europe, observers believe.

Norway’s plans to introduce a US-style ban on payments processing for internet gambling transactions will end up in the courts, should it go ahead, one of its senior legal advisors has predicted. The proposed ban, which widens the Norwegian definition of the offence of ‘mediating’ bets, has already attracted widespread concern.

New Norwegian legislation requiring payment providers to block payments to online gaming operators will reinforce the state monopoly. Draft regulations implementing blocking measures has recently received criticism from both within the country and abroad.

Norway’s slot machine industry has come under the exclusive control of state-owned Norsk Tipping following the Norwegian Supreme Court’s ruling last week that the proposed state monopoly on slot machines was compliant with European Economic Area (EEA) rules.

The Norwegian government has submitted draft rules to implement a ban on financial transactions related to internet gambling to a public consultation process, and notified the regulations to the European Commission and to EEA free-trade watchdogs.

Norway is set to become the first European country to implement controversial legislation requiring banks to block payments to unlicensed gaming operators.