Акції онлайнових казино втратили понад половину вартості на Лондонській валютній біржі по тому, як Конгрес США заборонив інтернетні азартні ігри. Повідомляє Метью Девіс:

Послухати репортаж

While there have been moves to clamp down on Internet gambling in the United States for some time, this latest action by Congress was a little unexpected. The legislation was actually tacked onto an unrelated bill regarding security at American ports. All the bill needs to come into effect is the signature of President George Bush - and that's likely to happen within the next two weeks.

As a result, shares in some of the big companies involved in this sector have taken a significant battering, losing more than half of their value. The world's largest online casino, 888, has already suspended its operations in the US - and another company, PartyGaming says it'll follow suit once the bill is signed into law.

It's a huge blow for these companies - this is a six billion dollar a year market - PartyGaming generates as much as 78 percent of its revenues from the United States. For 888, the figure is around 50 percent. However, while the immediate future of these firms looks bleak, many experts say that the desire on the part of punters to gamble means that, in time, ways around these new laws will probably be found.

Matthew Davies, BBC

Послухати слова

to clamp down on
вжити рішучих дій (проти чогось)

legislation
законодавство

tacked onto
прив'язане, додане до чогось

to come into effect
набути чинності

taken a significant battering
зазнали суттєвої шкоди (тут, втратили багато вартості в акціях)

follow suit
вчинити так само

a huge blow
серйозний удар

revenues
надходження, прибутки

bleak
понурий

punters
типові клієнти, азартні гравці