Brazil approves 68 licences for full Bets launch on 1 January

The Ministry of Finance of Brazil has revealed that 68 businesses have completed full license applications for the launch of the Brazil Bets market on January 1, 2025.

The update comes as the Bets regime enters its final 24 hours, ushering in the federal framework for Brazil to regulate its online gambling and sports betting marketplace starting in 2025.

Referring to SIGAP, the data management and license coordination platform of the Bets regime, the Ministry disclosed that 70 license applications have been authorised.

The Ministry stated that a total of “150 license requests from 145 companies have been submitted to SIGAP” since the application period for the Bets market concluded on September 30.

As stands, 68 businesses have completed full authorisations, which include fulfilling the upfront payment of a R$30 million (€5 million) concession fee to secure their Bets licenses. The payment of concession fees alone will allow the Ministry to collect over R$2.1 billion (approximately €380m) in fixed income from the Bets regime before its launch.

The licensing process for the Bets regime was overseen by the Secretariat for Prizes and Betting (SPA). Qualified businesses were required to undergo a four-stage review process to ensure compliance with key requirements such as IT security protocols, licensing standards, payment processing, anti-money laundering (AML) measures, gaming regulations, and responsible gambling practices.

On December 12, the SPA announced that it had initiated its final procedure to issue Bets license authorisations for 71 “qualified businesses,” which were given a 30-day window to complete final steps, including the payment of concession fees.

The 68 businesses that have received full authorisations will operate a total of 300 unique brands (though not all brands have been disclosed). International operators and brands listed include Betfair (Flutter Entertainment), bet365, Stake.com, and Entain Plc’s brands Betboo and SportingBet.

Final orders issued by the SPA required licensed businesses to register their payment and auditing systems with the Financial Activities Control System (Siscoaf) to comply with anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CTF), and ‘prevention of weapons proliferation measures’.

All licensed operators must request Siscoaf authorisation within 10 days of the official publication to allow their betting platforms to process Bets transactions with Brazilian consumers.

Operators must report any non-occurrence of ML/FTP activities to the SPA by the last business day of January following the year of occurrence. The document, signed by SPA President  Regis Dudena, came into force on December 30, 2024.

As previously cited, Dudena reiterated the SPA’s mandate that all licensees must demonstrate full compliance with Bets’ market rules from day one, concluding: “Starting January 1, all companies operating in Brazil will need to be Brazilian entities established under Brazilian law. We’ll know their shareholders, ultimate beneficiaries, and executives, ensuring complete oversight of both legal entities and individuals involved in this activity.”