Competition authorities investigate Paraguay betting bid
Paraguay investigation, Coljuegos appointment, new Codere CEO, Mexican money-laundering seminar, Brazilian video games legislation +More
Good morning. On this week’s agenda:
The Paraguayan Conacom is to investigate Conajzar over sports-betting bid.
Coljuegos names attorney Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez as its new president.
Codere appoints Gonzaga Higuero as CEO.
Mexico holds a seminar on the prevention of money laundering.
Chile: SCJ and SERNAC warn of an increase in online gambling complaints.
The regulation of video gaming in Brazil could create 30,000 new jobs.
Kambi strengthens LatAm positioning with Eyas Gaming deal.
Event news: SBC Summit Rio will be held from March 5-7, 2024.
Paraguay investigation
Conacom will investigate Conajzar over 2022 sports-betting tender.
Power, corruption and lies: The National Competition Commission (Conacom) of Paraguay has decided to investigate the National Gambling Commission (Conajzar) for allegedly having favored Daruma Sam in the tender for a further five years of its exclusive sports-betting franchise, conducted in 2022.
Conacom communicated its decision to the Ministry of Finance and Conajzar In Opinion D/11/2022.
It said Conajzar “[excluded] international bidders and the consideration of their experience in consortia” in making its decision.
Several bidders denounced the “clear inclination” in favor of Daruma Sam, which also won the bid in 2017. Daruma Sam was only founded in that year.
The Paraguayan Association of Gambling Operators (APOJA) has criticized Conajzar for deciding on the sports-betting bid before the expiration of the Paraguayan regulations in force at the time.
Daruma Sam, which operates through the brand Aposta.La, was again awarded the right to operate gambling in the region for another five years, despite two of its competitors offering to pay a higher percentage of taxes on their net profits.
The B-Gaming Paraguay branch and Gambling SA consortium offered 27%, while Playtech put in a bid for 23%. This compares with Daruma Sam’s 22%.
This award was ratified by the executive branch via a decree signed by the office of President Mario Abdo Benítez.
In 2022, the Ministry of Money Laundering Prevention opened charges against Daruma Sam for allowing money laundering on its properties and launched an investigation that is still ongoing.
The first report of the prevention office against Daruma is from December 2020, the same month in which the Legal Office of the Municipality of Ciudad del Este, recommended to Mayor Miguel Prieto Vallejos that he cancel the gambling operation award and terminate the contract with Aposta.La.
The dispute has reached Congress, which has requested a report from Conajzar to evaluate the case.
The foreign companies that were left out of competition – including the B-Gaming and Gambling SA consortium – criticized Conajzar for refusing to adequately justify their decisions. They are going to the courts to reverse the result.
They claimed that Daruma Sam did not even submit the documentation correctly and should have been disqualified.
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Coljuegos appointment
The Colombian Ministry of Finance names Marco Hincapié as president of Coljuegos.
The Colombian Ministry of Finance has appointed Marco Emilio Hincapié Ramírez as president of Coljuegos. The new official is a lawyer from Tolima, who graduated from the University of Santo Tomás, with a specialization in administrative and constitutional law from the Catholic University of Colombia and a postgraduate degree in public administration from the Higher School of Public Administration.
According to his resume, Hincapié Ramírez has been a public servant for more than 30 years.
Codere news
Codere confirms Gonzaga Higuero as its new CEO.
Codere had been leaderless since February, following the resignations of joint CEOs Alberto González del Solar and Alejandro Rodino. Higuero will be responsible for driving the growth in Codere’s online business and the development of Nueva Codere, while maintaining the company's leading position in global markets with sustained growth, particularly in the Latin American markets of Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, and Colombia.
Higuero was previously CEO of Health Transportation Group.
The company has also announced the appointment of Luis Villalba as CFO. He previously served as the financial director for Deoleo Group.
Mexican seminar
Mexico holds a seminar on money laundering prevention and security.
Fight the good fight: The seminar held on July 11-14 brought together authorities, representatives and lottery officials from all over Latin America, who shared their experiences and knowledge in the fight against money laundering through the gambling industry.
Organized jointly by the Ibero-American Corporation of Lotteries and State Betting (Cibelae), the World Lottery Association (WLA) and the National Lottery of Mexico (Lotenal), the meeting aimed to continue to strengthen international cooperation on the prevention of money laundering and security in lotteries.
The meeting was attended by representatives from lotteries, gambling commissions and financial institutions across the region.
The coordinator of the prevention of money laundering of Cibelae Carolina Galtieri explained that in the fight against these criminal organizations, which look for ways to enter their money into the financial system, there are international financial intelligence organizations, such as Gafi, Gafilat, Gafic and the European Council, that impose regulations on casinos, lotteries and gambling institutions to prevent money laundering.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” she said.
On the other hand, Pablo Rouvier, legal advisor UPLA-LotBA and member of Cibelae, pointed out that these agencies have a manual with 40 prevention practices, among which the following factors stand out: risk-based approach, international controls, client identification, transaction registration, transaction reporting and operating licenses.
He explained that one of the most common practices is to identify the client and keep a record of transactions when a user exceeds $3,000 (or euros) in a transaction, thus avoiding anonymity and risks associated with money laundering.
Dates for the diary: This seminar is the first stop on the agenda that lotteries have ahead of them for the second half of the year.
The WLA Risk and Safety Management Committee will hold an exclusive workshop for its partners on 19 September.
On 27 September, the Conference on Sustainability and Social Responsibility, organized by the WLA and European Lotteries, will take place in Norway,.
Finally, a seminar on sports betting, also organized by the WLA and European Lotteries, will be held in Paris on November 1-3.
Chile online warning
The SCJ and SERNAC warn of an increase in complaints against online gambling platforms.
Storm warning: “Along with SERNAC, it seems highly relevant to alert citizens about the risks to which they are exposed when making online bets, when those platforms operate outside the law,” warned Vivien Villagrán, head of the Superintendency of Gaming Casinos (SCJ) of Chile.
The SCJ and the National Consumer Service (SERNAC) revealed there has been a marked increase in the number of complaints of infringements and swindles committed by online gambling platforms.
The director of SERNAC Andrés Herrera noted that online gambling is not regulated in Chile, so it is illegal and, consequently, those who access such services are exposed to breaches and scams.
“That’s why the call to consumers is to self-care, not to expose themselves to contracting this type of services and, even less, to go into debt to access them,” the official urged.
On June 12, the government presented indications to the bill that seeks to regulate the development of online betting platforms.
“As long as the law is not enacted, the message is one: online gambling, which is currently proliferating in Chile, is illegal,” said SCJ and SERNAC.
Dreams of Chile payouts
Dreams are made of this: At the end of June, the seven Dreams casinos delivered 48,819 prizes of more than CLP500,000 ($613), about $83.9m in total prizes. Dreams’ corporate affairs manager, Carlos Silva, said the network wants its visitors to have a vast experience and “also allow themselves to dream of winning a prize that can change their lives”.
According to Dreams figures, 24,364 prizes of between CLP500,000 and CLP999,000 and 23,294 of over a million pesos were awarded.
Of this last group, 328 people received prizes more than CLP10m pesos playing at the Dreams and Monticello casinos machines.
Monticello was the casino with the biggest winners, delivering 16,571 prizes that totaled more than CLP35bn.
Dreams’ offices in the various regions – Iquique, Temuco, Valdivia, Puerto Varas, Coyhaique and Punta Arenas – also paid well. In total, they delivered 32,248 prizes totaling more than CLP33.2bn.
Brazilian video gaming jobs
Legalization for gaming could bring 30,000 new jobs.
Boost: The implementation of the Legal Framework for Games being proposed in Brazil could increase industry revenues to 131 billion reais ($27bn) and generate around 30,000 new jobs, according to a new report from consulting firm PwC.
Brazil’s gaming market continues to show its strength, with annual revenues of around 12 billion reais, according to PwC.
This positions the country as the leader in Latin America and 13th in the world in terms of revenue for the video game industry.
With the adoption of the legal framework for the sector, it is expected that 30,000 new jobs will be created.
Bill 2.796/2021, known as the Legal Framework for Games, has been presented by federal deputy Kim Kataguiri (União-SP) and is currently being processed by the Federal Senate under the rapporteur of Senator Irajá Filho (PSD-TO).
According to the diagnosis of the Undersecretariat of Labor Statistics and Studies of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, there are approximately 5.2 million unemployed young people in Brazil between the ages of 14 and 24.
However, the video game and eSports industry could become a relevant option for employment and the acquisition of work skills in the country.
According to a survey conducted by Pesquisa Game Brazil (PGB), 58.3% of gamers believe that the video game industry offers good career opportunities in areas such as content creation, marketing and game programming.
The bill aims to promote the training of skilled workers in the industry, through the establishment of technical courses, programming workshops and investment in innovation research and development.
In addition, assured Senator Filho, the goal is to professionalize the labor market of video games, so that they cease to be seen only as entertainment and will have applications in educational, therapeutic and training areas.
The Legal Framework for Games has been unanimously approved by the Chamber of Deputies and the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) of the Senate.
The next step is the vote on the text in the Plenary of the Federal Senate and, if approved without amendment, it will be sent for presidential assent.
Eyas partnership
Eyas Gaming partners with Kambi to launch Lance!
Lance-a-lot: Eyas Gaming is to employ Kambi's technology to turn Lance! into a sports-betting brand. Currently, Lance! Is one of the most important daily online sports media brands in Brazil with more than 15m active users per month.
The agreement between Eyas Gaming and Kambi consolidates Kambi's strategic position throughout the region and offers opportunities to launch sports-betting operations in other districts in the future.
This alliance is backed by the gaming industry conglomerate Gauselmann Group.
Kambi’s CEO and co-founder Kristian Nylén noted that the agreement with Eyas Gaming further strengthens his company’s “impressive range of partners throughout Brazil and Latin America”.
The CEO of Eyas Gaming Adam Joseph said he was incredibly happy with the agreement signed with Kambi in their search to achieve their goals in the world of sports betting and the potential that Lance! has as a betting brand in Brazil.
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SBC Summit Rio
SBC Summit Rio is scheduled to take place on March 5-7, 2024 at the Windsor Barra Hotel. This is the first conference and exhibition aimed exclusively at the Brazilian online betting and gaming market and will be a key gathering for all those interested in the industry in Brazil.
The event will take in regulation, products, operator/media relations, sports integrity and data rights and sponsorship.
SBC hopes to attract top local and international executives with valuable information about the Brazilian market and promote networking.
Publishing schedule
This is the English translation of the LosIngresos+Mas newsletter published yesterday.
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