Brazil to begin regulatory action against unlicensed operators from 1 January 2025
Regulator lays out timeline for licence application process as all hopeful contenders required to submit before the end of the year
The Brazilian government has confirmed prospective legal operators in the market must apply for a licence by the end of 2024.
According to new ordinance published this week by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), operators that have been legal in the grey market will have until 31 December to apply for a licence.
Licences will cost BRL30m (£4.6m) and be valid for five years, allowing operators to launch three brands in the South American nation.
However, the SPA has laid out criteria needed for operators to be successful in respective applications.
These include financial statements from the past two years, a minimum cash reserve of BRL5m, a minimum capital stock of BRL30m and a minimum net worth of the same value.
Other requirements include having a base in Brazil, sufficient anti-money laundering and responsible gambling polices in place and an association with an integrity body.
Operators will now have 90 days to submit for a licence application.
The regulator also confirmed that should operators that are currently live continue to offer services in Brazil from 1 January 2025 without a licence, then they will be subject to penalties.
Taking to LinkedIn, José Francisco Manssur, a special adviser to Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, praised the publication of the ordinance, describing the latest step in the march to regulation as “essential”.
He said: “The publication of Ordinance 827, the most awaited by the segment, reinforces the intention of SPA to carry out the effective regulation of online betting and gaming in Brazil, for the creation of a regulated, safe and responsible market. Those who ‘bet’ against the regulation continue to lose badly.
“Another fundamental point of the regulatory process, reaffirmed by Ordinance 827, is the predictability of the regulations which, after all, were the result of incessant discussions with all market entities. There are not, nor will there be, relevant ‘gotchas’ or ‘surprises’. Everything, pretty much everything, was talked about, debated and discussed.”