Last Thursday (May 25th), the Congress of the Republic approved by majority bill 3595 that introduces important changes in law 31557, a law that in 60 days celebrates one year of having been approved and promulgated but that we consider is taking the relevant time to make the necessary adjustments before entering into force.
As we have always said, the approval of this law was positive for the country, generating a broad analysis and debate by all sectors involved in government, industry, unions and civil society. Never before has this level of participation and interest been seen in a law, technical regulation and draft law amendment in the gaming industry. In the case of the draft technical regulation of this law, the recent final report issued by MINCETUR indicates that 772 opinions, suggestions and contributions were received from citizens, operating companies, unions, consultants, government institutions, among others. 76% correspond to suggestions for modifications in the articles, 19% correspond to suggestions for modifications in the transitional complementary provisions, 6% correspond to suggestions in the annexes, and 3% correspond to general comments. Undoubtedly an unprecedented fact so far in the Peruvian industry. The regulator reported that it has accepted 65% of these suggestions to introduce the relevant modifications, clarifications and adjustments in the draft technical regulation.
Bill 3595 presented in Congress in November 2022 aimed to modify 20 articles and 33 numerals, supported through an extensive explanation of reasons in 48 pages. On April 26 of this year this bill was debated in the committee of economy, banking, finance and financial intelligence product of which the opinion was approved in majority with 17 votes in favor having been drafted in a document of 117 pages ready for debate in plenary.
This opinion of the bill maintains the functions of control and supervision of the regulator, emphasizes the protection of the vulnerable population, the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism, the need to establish the mandatory registration of players, likewise has rejected many of the proposals to modify the articles considering that it affects the purposes of the law, In other cases, it refers to the lack of solid arguments or concrete studies.
It is important to highlight the hard work seen in this congressional commission that has requested consultations and received opinions from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR), Ministry of Education (MINEDU), Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM), unions representing operating companies in the country, Superintendence of Banking and Insurance (SBS), Ministry of Justice and Human Rights (MINJUS), General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Protection (INDECOPI), among others. Undoubtedly, Bill 3595 was subjected to extensive analysis and debate prior to the majority opinion.
The approval of Bill 3595 carried out with a majority vote of the full Congress contains the following key points in the modification of Law 31557:
According to the deadlines established by law, if the technical regulation is approved in June, the law enters into force after 60 days, that is, the month of August, from that date the current operating companies and all interested parties have 120 days to adapt to the law and initiate the application process to obtain authorization from the regulator. The latter would be in January 2024 if the progress and deadlines are given on the indicated dates. We will wait for the official promulgation of the law and technical regulation in the coming days.
We believe that this is a precedent of analysis and discussion that should take place throughout the region in each regulation project that is promoted by the legislative or executive branch in each country, convening all those involved in the industry and civil society to make all the necessary adjustments in each regulation project. and above all allow the opening of the market. As we have mentioned before, regulation is on the political agenda of each country in the region, proof of this is the presentation of the regulators who participated in the VII Iberoamerican Gaming Summit held in Panama on May 16 and 17, and the recent news in the region.
Finally, we want to announce that our consulting company will participate in the coming weeks in important events in the gaming and Blockchain industry that will take place in Chile and Peru. On May 30 and 31 we will participate as a speaker with the theme "Vision of LATAM in a 100% Regulated Market" at the GAMING INSIGHTS event to be held in Santiago de Chile; from June 8 to 10 we will participate in the BLOCKCHAINCOM LATAM 2023 event that will take place in the city of Lima event that has the institutional support of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM) through the area of digital government that has been promoting digital transformation in the country; on June 12 we will be present at the dinner offered for operators of the Peruvian industry organized by G&M News; On June 14 and 15 we will be present at the international fair Peru Gaming Show that will take place in the city of Lima, and in which we wait for you at stand number 38. We will be available to talk about business opportunities and development of new projects in the LATAM region, we will also present our strategic partners.
Jonathan Daniel Felix Vilchez
Jonathan Félix Vilchez is an international executive with over 20 years of experience in the gambling industry in Latin America. He has been part of the staff of international companies with operations in Peru. In addition, he has advised international companies based in the United States, Europe and Asia for the development of businesses and projects in the Latin American region. He is CEO of Global Business Company de Perú S.A.C. https://globalbusinesslatam.com/ , a company based in Peru, specialized in consulting and business development in the sector of gambling, financial services and value added.
