SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Ministry of Finance of Brazil has outlined plans and a timetable to establish the regulatory policy of the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA), the government agency that will serve as the regulatory authority of the betting market.
Latest developments to progress the launch of the betting market, establishing a federal sports betting and online gambling marketplace in Brazil, saw the Ministry publish a specific ordinance for the SPA.
“The ordinance offers legal security, guarantees predictability and efficiency to the regulatory process, and thus solidifies the foundations for a stable and reliable betting environment in Brazil,” the Ministry explained.
Stakeholders were informed that the Ministry of Finance will establish the SPA via four phases of execution in which it seeks to complete its plans by the end of July, upholding the government’s plans to launch the betting market in 2024.
Phase 1 will see the Ministry publish ordinances related to betting technical provisions on the “General rules for payment systems and security in betting systems, procedures for Commercial Authorisation and operation of fixed-odds betting, and the Certification requirements for betting systems and online games studios.”
Significant ordinances on the Commercial Authorisation of Bets will outline the principal requirements and criteria for the licensing of operators.
In May, Phase 2 of ordinances will focus on Money Laundering and Crime Prevention requirements needed to “set of rules to be observed by operators in relation to legal provisions and the rights of customers.”
Scheduled for June, Phase 3 modalities will feature the publication of ordinances detailing Technical and Security Requirements for online games, monitoring and supervisory rules of the betting markets, including sanctions for violations of the lottery sector.
At present, the Ministry aims to conclude SPA affairs by the end of July, publishing its final ordinances on Responsible Gambling. Bets stakeholders will be informed of technical provisions needed to “monitor and prevent pathological gambling, and outline procedures for implementing social allocations to ensure that the betting industry’s contributions benefit society transparently.”
Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, has not yet appointed a president for the SPA, who is set to oversee a group of 38 experts in the regulation of the betting market.
The appointment of SPA’s leader has become a contentious issue for the Ministry of Finance to resolve, complicated by the bipartisan interests in Congress as to which ‘political faction‘ should have influence over the newly established agency, projected to generate R$3bn ($610m) per year in taxes alone.
In January the Ministry of Finance revealed that it had received ‘application of interest’ from 134 foreign and domestic businesses to participate in the Bets market including Kaizen Gaming (Betano), 1XBET, Meridianbet, Pixbet, Flutter Entertainment, LeoVegas, Betway and Draftkings.
