Belize placed on Britain's Blacklist

Belize gets placed on Britain’s Blacklist

Because of its loose regulations, Belize has been put on Britain’s blacklist of nations that provide license for gambling web sites.

A British based news agency, ‘Reuters’, reported this week that online gaming companies in Belize and other online gaming spots such as Costa Rica and the Netherlands Antilles, will not be allowed to advertise or promote their business in the United Kingdom beginning in September.

The British government has according to the report, decided to make this move because it is not satisfied that these countries have regulations strong enough to meet the UK’s strict standards of how web site gaming companies should operate.
Culture Media and Sport Minister, James Purnell said “I make no apology for banning adverts for web sites operating from places that don’t meet our standards”.

Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of National Development, Huge O’Brian, made the statement on Thursday that he only became aware of the British move Thursday morning after reading the Reuters article on the internet.
Huge O’Brian says “I do not know all the reasons for the British decision, and that His ministry has not received any official complaints.

There currently only exist one online gaming company operating in Belize, according to O’Brian. He also stated that “Fulton has met all the necessary requirements set out by the 2004 Online Gaming Regulations, which was passed into law in 2004.  Bwin International also has a license to operate in Belize, has not yet set up an office there.
Fulton Date Processing, O’Brian stated, operates out of the International Communication Services Limited compound in Ladyville, formerly known as Data Pro compound, and has a valid license to operate in Belize.

Fulton now operates out of Gibraltar, which is not affected by the British governments’ decision.

O’Brian says his ministry is currently following up on an investigation which is revealing that there may be a handful of unlicensed online gaming business operations outside the law in Belize. And that Belize does not have all the necessary manpower to ensure that these types of businesses operate within the confines of law. The ministry does all in its power to ensure that such companies maintain a clean record.

Over four years ago several dozen of online gaming companies operated in Belize, and at that time there were no regulations to control them.