Brazil sets timetable for new gambling regulator

The SPA will regulate the future Brazilian betting market.

Brazil.- The Ministry of Finance of Brazil has set out a timetable for the creation of policies for the new gambling regulator, the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA). While the ministry has yet to appoint a president for the SPA, it has clarified that there will be four phases for the creation of regulatory policies.

Phase one will involve ordinances on technical provisions and general rules on payment systems and the security of betting systems, commercial authorisation procedures, the operation of fixed-odds betting, and certification requirements. Phase two in May will involve further ordinances on money laundering and crime prevention and rules related to customer rights.

Phase three in June will see the publication of ordinances on technical and security requirements for online gaming, monitoring and supervisory rules and sanctions for breaches in the lottery sector. Finally, in July, phase four would see ordinances on responsible gambling, including measures for the monitoring and prevention of pathological gambling and rules on social allocations.

At the end of last year, the Ministry of Finance said it had received expressions of interest from 134 operators interested in gaining licences for the Brazilian gambling market.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has named Plínio Lemos Jorge as its new president. He replaces Wesley Cardia, whose one-year tenure has come to an end.

With a master’s degree in tax law and a PhD in business law, Lemos Jorge is a lawyer at Lemos Jorge Advogados Associados and a former judge at the São Paulo Tax and Fees Court.