Sec. 233.5 - Policies and procedures required.

(a) All non-exempt participants in designated payment systems shall establish and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to identify and block or otherwise prevent or prohibit restricted transactions.

(b) A non-exempt financial transaction provider participant in a designated payment system shall be considered to be in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section if--

(1) It relies on and complies with the written policies and procedures of the designated payment system that are reasonably designed to--

(i) Identify and block restricted transactions; or

(ii) Otherwise prevent or prohibit the acceptance of the products or services of the designated payment system or participant in connection with restricted transactions; and

(2) Such policies and procedures of the designated payment system comply with the requirements of this part.

(c) For purposes of paragraph (b)(2) in this section, a participant in a designated payment system may rely on a written statement or notice by the operator of that designated payment system to its participants that states that the operator has designed or structured the system's policies and procedures for identifying and blocking or otherwise preventing or prohibiting restricted transactions to comply with the requirements of this part as conclusive evidence that the system's policies and procedures comply with the requirements of this part, unless the participant is notified otherwise by its Federal functional regulator or, in the case of participants that are not directly supervised by a Federal functional regulator, the Federal Trade Commission.

(d) As provided in the Act, a person that identifies and blocks a transaction, prevents or prohibits the acceptance of its products or services in connection with a transaction, or otherwise refuses to honor a transaction, shall not be liable to any party for such action if--

(1) The transaction is a restricted transaction;

(2) Such person reasonably believes the transaction to be a restricted transaction; or

(3) The person is a participant in a designated payment system and blocks or otherwise prevents the transaction in reliance on the policies and procedures of the designated payment system in an effort to comply with this regulation.

(e) Nothing in this part requires or is intended to suggest that designated payment systems or participants therein must or should block or otherwise prevent or prohibit any transaction in connection with any activity that is excluded from the definition of ``unlawful Internet gambling'' in the Act as an intrastate transaction, an intratribal transaction, or a transaction in connection with any activity that is allowed under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3001 et seq.; see Sec. 233.1(a)).

(f) Nothing in this part modifies any requirement imposed on a participant by other applicable law or regulation to file a suspicious activity report to the appropriate authorities.

(g) The requirement of this part to establish and implement written policies and procedures applies only to the U.S. offices of participants in designated payment systems.