Brazil: The SPA will start suspending unlicensed betting businesses in October

For betting organizations wishing to operate in Brazil, the Prizes and Betting Secretariat (SPA) has established a deadline for obtaining the necessary authorization. Starting October 1, operators who have not applied for permission will have their operations suspended until they obtain approval from the SPA.

Only operators who are already in business and have requested authorization to offer fixed-odds lottery betting by this deadline will be allowed to continue operating. From October onward, those who haven’t submitted their request through the Ministry of Finance’s betting management system, SIGAP, will be considered illegal until they secure authorization from the Treasury.

This comes in anticipation of Brazil’s regulated betting market going live on January 1, 2025. By that time, only operators who comply with legal requirements will be permitted to operate.

Interest in operating within Brazil has been significant, with Gaming America reporting in late August that 114 applications for iGaming licenses have already been submitted.

Regis Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Bets at the Ministry of Finance, stated: “We will allow the adaptation period to extend until the end of December, but only for those who have shown they intend to follow the law and Brazilian regulations. Many criminal activities involving companies in the betting market have surfaced, and we found it necessary to start addressing this issue before January,” according to a report published by Gambling Insider.

He added, “Our goal is to protect the mental, financial, and physical health of bettors and to prevent companies from using sports betting and online games to commit fraud and money laundering. The adaptation period is not a free pass to ignore existing laws, including the Money Laundering Law (Law No. 9,613/1998), the Financial Crimes Law (Law No. 7,492/1986), the Consumer Protection Code, and the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA). We are closely examining authorization requests to ensure illegal activities are being addressed.”

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