WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record) on Wednesday said he will introduce a bill this week to lift a ban on online gambling.

"Why anyone thinks it is any of my business why some adult wants to gamble is absolutely beyond me," Frank told a community bankers group conference.

Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he will introduce the legislation on Thursday.

Internet gambling in the United States was effectively banned last October when President George W. Bush signed legislation outlawing gaming financial transactions.

The ban irked some in the European Union, which is home to online gambling companies that were forced to withdraw from the United States.

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Andrew Parmentier, a senior policy analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey, said that he believes the bill will make headway. "Absolutely there's a chance" for reform of the law, he added.

In a research note Tuesday, Parmentier said that the bill could help boost gambling companies' shares.
"We believe this week's events, coupled with our belief that legislation will pass the House and receive serious considerations and bipartisan support in the Senate, are positive catalysts for content providers," he wrote.
Frank called the law, called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, "a great mistake."
"I spend a lot of my time trying to protect people from other people who are going to treat them unfairly," Frank remarked in a speech before the Independent Community Bankers of America. "I have no energy left for protecting people from themselves."
Anthony Cabot, a partner with the law firm Lewis and Roca, said he doesn't foresee repeal of the law, but added that lawmakers may be able to change parts of it.
"There's clearly room for reform of it," Cabot commented.
Frank plans a news conference to discuss the bill, titled the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, on Thursday morning.