The Brazilian Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) has issued a directive requiring all licensed fixed-odds betting operators to submit their Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) policies.
This authorization applies to all betting companies operating in Brazil, including those directly authorized by the Ministry of Finance and those operating under judicial orders.
Under Law No. 14,790/2023 and SPA/MF Ordinance No. 1,143/2024, each operator must provide detailed AML/CTF policies, outlining specific standards and actions for various scenarios.
To assist operators in meeting these requirements, SPA hosted a webinar on February 12, focusing on best practices for reporting suspicious activities to the Financial Activities Control Council. The meeting detailed the procedures for reporting suspicious transactions.
It is noteworthy that the announcement requires operators to comply by March 17.
This initiative is based on SPA's recent inclusion in the National Strategy to Combat Corruption and Money Laundering (Enccla) in November 2024.
As a member of this inter-agency institution, SPA's members include representatives from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, aiming to strengthen the commitment to combating financial crimes and enhancing industry regulation.
This announcement was made against the backdrop of the continuously expanding regulated betting market in Brazil, which recently issued 21 new final licenses, bringing the total number of fully licensed operators to 35.
This growing market currently includes 69 operators with either temporary or final authorization.
