Russia Ramps Up War on Internet Gambling

Russia this week tightened the screws on banks and payment processors, ordering them to cleanse the names of unlicensed online operators from their client lists. The Izvestia news agency has reported that the Russian media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has written to Russia’s largest bank, Sherbank, as well as payment processors Skrill and Yandex, ordering them to remove operators from their customer-base in compliance with the law. Russia is in the midst of legalizing and regulating sports betting, a fact that has steeled its resolve to stamp out unregulated sites. The state began ISP blocking online gambling websites around September 2015 after…