Finance secretary calls on Brazilian states to work together
Brazil working party, Puerto Rico machine regs, Brazil tax, Argentina AML +Más
Brazil: Finance secretary proposes working group to discuss betting regulations.
In +Más: Brazil online visits soar, BGaming enters Argentine market.
Puerto Rico: Senate to approve regulations for gambling machines “soon.”
Brazil: ANJL calls on senators to change gambling tax law.
Argentina: Lotteries enhance strategy to combat money laundering.
Together we stand, divided we fall.
Brazil working group
Let’s work together: The executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan, has advocated for the creation of a working group with the states to discuss online betting regulation. The goal would be to achieve some uniformity in decisions and values set by state governments to avoid fiscal warfare.
The proposal was presented during the meeting of the National Council of Financial Policy (Confaz) on Friday, April 12, attended by state finance secretaries and representatives from the federal government.
The idea arises from concerns about regulations promoted by some states, such as the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj), which was notified by the Ministry of Finance to halt the accreditation processes it has underway.
Know your limits: The main issue is related to territorial limits, where a company that obtains a regional license (for much less money than it would cost for a national concession) and offers its betting services to users in other states.
Watch your step: The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) expressed a similar opinion to that of the Ministry of Finance, stating: “The actions carried out by Loterj create disorder, raise unnecessary doubts and jeopardize the regulation process of the fixed-betting industry in Brazil.”
Loterj rejected this notion in a letter to the Treasury, arguing: “Consumption, in turn, will always be preceded by an unequivocal declaration of acceptance and recognition by the consumer-bettor of the situation in the state of Rio de Janeiro; there is no overstepping, either materially or legally, of state territorial limits.”
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Brazil
Home visits: Monthly visits to sports-betting sites in Brazil exceeded 400m in 2023, up 83% YoY, according to data from Similarweb, while iCasino visits topped 100m, up 41%. In total, online gambling sites recorded 6.1bn hits for the period, up 77% vs. 2022.
A means to an extend: Amid the controversy with the Ministry of Finance (see above), Loterj has extended the accreditation deadline for betting houses to operate in Rio de Janeiro until 30 May.
While Apostau RJ, Bestbet, Marjosport and Pixbet are already operational, nine others are still undergoing accreditation: 1xBet, Caesars Sportsbook, Key Solution Gaming of Bet, Lottoland, Lema, Laguna, PNR, Purple & Green and SDL Lotteries.
Inspired Entertainment is eyeing up the potential for virtual soccer products in the soon-to-open regulated market in Brazil, with chair Lorne Weil saying the country offered the opportunity to tap into a market of over 200m soccer fans.
NeoGames has signed a deal to provide OSB, iCasino and iLottery backend products to the operator behind the Caesars Brazil brand. BIG Brazil has an agreement with Caesars Entertainment dating back to 2015 to operate the brand in the country.
Rest of LatAm
BGaming has entered the Argentine online market after signing an agreement to supply a selection of its games – including Dragon’s Crash, Wild Heart and Aztec Clusters – to the country’s largest casino chain, Casino Club.
Colombia: Coljuegos has destroyed 445 illegal gambling items worth $50k, including slot machines, computer equipment, roulette wheels and televisions in the municipality of Itagüí, in the department of Antioquia.
Chile: Enjoy has received a 45-day extension (until June 18) to its bankruptcy financial protection, as it goes through a reorganization process. According to its latest financial report, Enjoy recorded losses attributable to the owners of the controlling company of $102m in 2023, in addition to a $65.5m loss in 2022.
Peru Rico regulations
How soon is now: The president of the Puerto Rico Senate, José Luis Dalmau Santiago, has announced that the new regulations for gambling machines would be approved “soon,” although he stopped short of saying exactly when.
The draft regulations document was signed by Governor Pedro R. Pierluisi on February 7. However, this was rejected by the Senate on March 1.
Dalmau Santiago said the original document contained serious imperfections and contradictions and that, if approved as it was, it would have been much more difficult to amend.
When the regulations are approved, the Gaming Commission will begin to sell licenses to operators.
The statute stipulates that 50% of revenues from the sale of licenses and tags for gambling machines will go to the police retirement fund and 22.5% to the state coffers.
Brazil tax campaign
Hashtag united: Brazil’s National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has launched the campaign #SeuVotomudaoJogo (Your vote makes gambling change) to convince the country’s senators to lift the veto on article 31 of Law 14,790/2023 to reduce taxes on gambling. Only by doing so, the association suggested, would it prevent players from moving to the illegal market.
The campaign coincides with the decision that lawmakers must make in the coming days regarding the veto of article 31.
The article states that income tax will be charged to bettors for each premium paid, instead of annually.
It also stipulates that taxes will be applied to prizes of any value, without a minimum. In Spain, for example, there is a system of declaring prizes, but starting from €10,000.
Tax avoidance: In practice, said the ANJL, this will lead bettors to the illegal market to avoid paying those taxes and would also violate the constitutional concept of income.
This diversion of players to illegal gambling, the ANJL suggested, would have a high impact on the federal government’s revenue expectations from the regulation of the sector, impacting funds for health, education and public security.
The ANJL’s proposal is for the legislator to maintain the annual collection of income tax on net winnings of bettors with an exemption up to a certain range of prizes.
Argentine AML strategy
Turn and face the strange: Argentine lotteries are changing their strategy to combat money laundering and, to that end, will improve the quality of Suspicious Operations Reports (SORs) and the analysis to increase effectiveness in detecting money laundering. The move stems from the conclusions of the Money Laundering Prevention Seminar in the gambling sector.
The president of the Financial Information Unit (UIF), Ignacio Yacobucci, stated that it is necessary to generate synergies and systematize public and private collaboration and the fourth mutual evaluation round to Argentina by the Financial Action Task Force.
He added: “The FATF evaluation provided us with direct knowledge of current dynamics. The risk-based approach entails continuous improvement, therefore, regulations must be permeable to changes, to a dynamic design, to receiving constructive criticism.”
Publication schedule
This is the English version of the LosIngresos+Mas newsletter published yesterday (April 17).
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