JUE 28 DE MARZO DE 2024 - 14:08hs.
MARKETPLACE

Brazilian businessmen expect gaming legalization to return to the country

Possibility of the legalization of the gaming activity in Brazil, which is being discussed in Congress, rekindled the desire for return of the “bingueiros” (businessmen of the bingo sector) who left the country after the ban on activity in the last decade.

Brazilian businessmen who had to leave Brazil after the prohibition of gambling are planning to return to the country in view of the possibility of passing two bills under way in the House and Senate. Most of them founded companies that became a reference in the world market for equipment for bingo halls and casinos.

Defender of liberation of the activity, the Ortiz family left Brazil with the STF (Federal Court of Justice) decision that made bingos illegal in 2007. Alejandro Ortiz and his brother Johnny founded two companies abroad: Ortiz and Zitro, which are today among the leaders of the sector.

"Today, all businessmen in the industry, Brazilian or foreign, follow the evolution of legislation," says Johnny Ortiz. Arlindo Figueiredo, director of Ajes, a network that brings together 200 interested in opening gaming establishments once the activity returns, says that the profile of those who went abroad is common.

One of the members, 7Games, which develops software for bingos and slot machines, is based in Florida. Moacir Filho, its President, says he is preparing the translation of the software into Portuguese, pending legalization. "I'm going to do the reverse of what I did in 2001 when I came to the US."

Another interested in returning to the gaming activity in Brazil is José Carlos Baungartner, who began his career in 1994 with the Vegas Way (then became RCT), left the country in 2007, invested in the Peruvian market and today is a reference in more than ten countries. Currently, it is being approved for marketing in the United States.

"The desire to return to work in Brazil is professional, because it is a very large market, but we also have relatives who stayed there and we always believe that one day we will be able to return," says Hugo Baungartner, company director and son of José Carlos.

No problems with the law

In the draft laws in process there is a rule that should prevent businessmen who already have some conviction for crimes from acting in the country. "Attestations will be required for absence of criminal records, negative certificates of tax debts and other requirements of suitability," explains Luiz Felipe Maia, a partner at FYMSA Advogados.

However, even some of the former bingo entrepreneurs cannot return to the market for the predicted convictions, their Brazilian operations can be made on behalf of other representatives.

Fabio Kujawski, a partner at Mattos Filho, believes that it is important to have criteria to attract people of unimpeachable reputation, eliminating the perception that gambling is a criminal association.

"In countries such as the US, where the largest companies in the sector have public capital, there is no such perception," he says.

Source: GMB / Folha de S. Paulo