RBS Rejects Online Gambling Operators

Published: Monday, May 18, 2009 Online-Casinos.com

Online gambling clients of the Royal Bank of Scotland, one of the largest banks in the world, have been told their business is not welcomed and to take any business coming from the Netherlands and Switzerland elsewhere. The Royal Bank of Scotland, was founded in 1727 and has it's headquarters in Edinburgh Scotland, U.K.. Recently the RBS completed its clear-out of boardroom executives who presided over last year's near-collapse of the Edinburgh based bank.

Now under the control of the government of the Netherlands, the Royal Bank of Scotland denies that their decision to make this move has been influenced by a merger with the Dutch banking giant ABN AMRO which is the retail division of operations. The bank also would not admit that it owns Coutts, a private wealth management firm from Switzerland which was recently asked by Swiss government authorities to stop Swiss transactions related to online gambling.

Any online gambling company that is affiliated with the Royal Bank of Scotland in the Isle of Man, Gilbraltar or Alderney that does business with the Dutch or Swiss gambling operators must find alternative banking arrangements. It is not known how many online gaming firms and management companies licensed in these jurisdictions are affected.

The Dutch government sent letters earlier this year to banks in their country urging them to block payments of bets over the internet. This has caused a problem with some larger casinos and as a result the Dutch government is now facing a lawsuit from Betfair.