The Brazilian Prize and Betting Secretariat (SPA) has set strict deadlines for gambling companies seeking to operate in Brazil to obtain authorization.
Operators who fail to apply for authorization by October 1 will be suspended from operating until they obtain permission from the SPA. Only operators who were already operating and applied to explore the fixed-odds lottery betting model before this date are allowed to continue operations.
From October onwards, operators who have not applied for authorization through the Ministry of Finance's gambling management system SIGAP will be considered illegal until they receive approval from the Ministry of Finance.
Brazil is preparing to launch a regulated gambling market on January 1, 2025. From then on, only operators who fully comply with legal regulations will be allowed to operate.
Interest in doing business in Brazil has always been high. By the end of August, Gaming America reported that the country had received 114 iGaming license applications.
The Minister of Prizes and Betting at the Ministry of Finance, Regis Dudena, stated:
"We will only keep an adaptation period until the end of December for those who have already shown a willingness to act according to the law, according to Brazilian rules. Many police actions involving companies operating in the gambling market in a criminal manner have been exposed. This is how we find out the method of not waiting until January to start screening the truth."
Dudena added:
"We hope to protect the psychological, financial, and physical health of gamblers, preventing companies from using sports betting and online gaming for fraud and money laundering activities.
"The adaptation period cannot be used for non-compliance with already effective laws, such as the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Law No. 9,613/1998), the Financial Crimes Law (Law No. 7,492/1986), the Consumer Protection Law, the Child and Adolescent Law (ECA), etc. When analyzing authorization requests, we will consider illegal activities."
In other gambling news in Brazil, Flutter has acquired a significant stake in Brazil's NSX Group for $350 million.
