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Ministry of Finance announces regulatory agenda for fixed-odds betting in Brazil

April 10th, 2024

Apostas esportivas: portaria do Ministério da Fazenda regulamenta transações de pagamento

On April 10, 2024, the Ministry of Finance published Ordinance SPA/MF No. 561/2024, through the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA).

The new ordinance establishes the SPA’s regulatory policy and regulatory agenda for fixed-odds betting in Brazil.

This measure aims to provide a stable, transparent, and attractive regulatory environment for investors, to offer legal certainty and efficiency within the betting regulation process. Accordingly, the new ordinance provides for the guidelines that SPA will follow in the coming months and sets a schedule to implement measures within the first semester of 2024.

This regulatory agenda is divided into four phases, and in each phase, the government will publish specific regulations:

Phase	When?	Rule
First	By the end of April.	Payment methods ordinance: General rules for payment transactions carried out by authorized agents operating the fixed-odds lottery betting modality within the national territory. Betting systems ordinance: Technical and security requirements that betting systems operating agents must comply with to explore the fixed-odds lottery betting modality. Authorization: Rules, conditions, and procedures to request authorization to operate fixed-odds betting across the national territory.
Second	By the end of May.	Money laundering and other offenses: This ordinance will provide for policies, procedures, and controls aimed at preventing and combating money laundering, financing of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other types of fraud related to the commercial exploitation of fixed-odds betting. It also addresses responsible gambling and prior expression of interest. Rights and obligations ordinance: Authorized operators must observe these rules to ensure compliance with legal provisions and safeguard the rights of bettors.
Third	By the end of June.	Online gaming ordinance: Technical and security requirements for online games that may be made available to bettors by authorized operating agents. Supervision ordinance: Rules and procedures for monitoring and overseeing the commercial exploitation of the fixed-odds lottery betting modality. Enforcement action ordinance: Procedure for applying administrative sanctions related to the commercial exploration of the fixed-odds lottery betting modality.
Fourth and final	Expected to be completed by the end of July 2024.	Responsible gaming ordinance: Actions to foster responsible gaming, particularly concerning measures, guidelines, and practices to prevent pathological gambling within the scope of fixed-odds betting. This ordinance also provides for the monitoring and prevention of player indebtedness and the improvement responsible advertising practices. Social allocations: Procedures to effectively allocate funds to legal recipients as specified in paragraph 1-A of Article 30 of Law No. 13,756 of 2018.