SPA/MF establishes compliance conditions and deadlines for fixed-odds betting operators in Brazil

On September 17, 2024, Ordinance No. 1,475/2024 was published by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance (“SPA/MF”), which establishes the compliance conditions and deadlines for legal entities that operate fixed-odds betting activities.

As of January 01, 2025 (“Final Deadline”), only authorized operators will be able to carry out betting activities.

The new ordinance established the following conditions:

• for companies that submitted the authorization application by September 17, 2024, and are already in business (“Companies in Transition”), the continuation of the betting activity will be authorized until the Final Deadline, while the application is analyzed by the SPA/MF; and
• for companies that have not submitted the authorization application by September 17, 2024, or that are not yet active, as of October 01, 2024 will be prohibited from operating betting in Brazil, until they are duly authorized by the SPA/MF.

Accordingly, the following timetable is in place for operators:

• By September 17, 2024: deadline for active companies to have applied for the authorization in order to continue operating bets between October 01, 2024, and December 31, 2024;
• By September 30, 2024: Companies in Transition must indicate to the SPA/MF their active trademarks and the respective Internet domains where they will provide the service during the transition period;
• As of October 01, 2024: betting operations by companies other than the Companies in Transition will be banned;
• By October 10, 2024: Internet domains will remain active until this date so players can withdraw their deposits. Even after this deadline, players will be guaranteed the right to a refund;
• As of October 11, 2024: online applications and websites that offer betting services in disagreement with the legislation and regulations in force will be blocked and excluded upon notification sent by the SPA/MF; and
• As of January 01, 2025: only authorized betting operators will be able to explore fixed-odds betting activities in Brazil, which will take place exclusively through a Brazilian Internet domain, with the extension “bet.br”.

Demarest’s multidisciplinary team is available to provide any further clarifications that may be necessary.