Barclays and RBS warn gaming clients on U.S

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Reuters
Barclays and RBS warn gaming clients on U.S.: source
Thursday October 12, 5:28 am ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays (London:BARC.L - News) and Royal Bank of Scotland (London:RBS.L - News) will shortly advise corporate customers to avoid taking Internet bets from the United States, banking and gambling sources said on Thursday.

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"The two banks will be telling corporate clients they're not prepared to do business with companies that take online bets from the United States," said the source. "Then they'll look at ways of stopping retail customers from online gambling."

An RBS spokeswoman said: "The Royal Bank of Scotland Group will take the necessary steps to ensure that we are fully compliant with this legislation." Barclays declined to comment.

Gambling companies were left in shock last week after the U.S. Congress unexpectedly passed a bill making it illegal to accept wagers over the Internet, or for banks or credit card companies to process payments to online gaming firms.

The measure has been passed to President George W. Bush to sign into law, which the industry expects to happen on Friday.

Banking and gambling sources said the two banks had written to corporate customers asking them to confirm they are complying with U.S. gaming legislation.

British online money transfer firm Neteller Plc (London:NLR.L - News), which does a lot of gambling business, says it is reviewing the situation.

RBS owns Citizens Financial Group, which is the eighth biggest commercial bank in the United States in terms of deposits. It has more than 1,600 branches operating across 13 states, and has non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states.

(Reporting by Pete Harrison and Steve Slater)