Gabriel Galípolo, the president of the Central Bank of Brazil, addressed the National Congress Investigative Committee, clarifying the bank's authorization responsibilities regarding illegal gambling websites and explicitly stated that he believes the bank needs more authority in this area.
In his speech, Galípolo emphasized that SPA has the power to decide which bets are authorized and expressed his belief that the Central Bank should be more involved. Currently, the Central Bank has no authority to intervene and mediate betting transactions, and although it has previously followed SPA's guidance, the Central Bank can only notify financial institutions when to stop accepting bets.
Galípolo stated directly in his speech: "I know the senators are aware of this, but it must be emphasized first and foremost that the Central Bank of Brazil has no authority to monitor or sanction transactions involving fixed-odds betting with legal entities that operate without authorization. Law No. 14790 of 2023 does not grant the Central Bank any such powers."
"Without specific regulations from the Central Bank, we have no authority to supervise or penalize. Therefore, our activities do not include control or regulation of specific operations related to fixed-odds betting as stipulated in the aforementioned law and its subsequent regulations."
Good news: Last week, SPA announced that beneficiaries of the Brazilian Family Allowance and other financial welfare programs will be prohibited from participating in sports betting.
This latest update was released simultaneously with another announcement from the Central Bank, which highlighted that Brazilians currently bet a total of 5.1 billion USD per month online. Additionally, Galípolo mentioned that SPA estimates that currently, 94% of the betting amount is returned as prizes.
Galípolo also emphasized that he believes the growth of the Brazilian black market gambling can be attributed to Congress's prolonged delay in legislating sports betting.
In other recent legislative news, SPA has requested all authorized fixed-odds betting operators to submit their anti-money laundering and terrorism financing prevention policies for review.
