According to the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) of the department, Regis Dudena, the CB is capable of triangulating payments of small amounts, made by individual bettors, to a single centralized account. Then, identify the remittance from this account to another, whether national or international. This second account would be blocked.
"It is an ongoing idea from the secretariat, together with the Central Bank, to interrupt Pix payments and ensure that unauthorized companies cannot conduct financial flows abroad, which should completely disrupt their economic activity," said the secretary in an interview with Globo.
He further explains how a bet is identified within the payment system:
"You have a lot of people at the base sending small amounts of money to a single place, and this place makes a remittance outside Brazil. This flow needs to be interrupted. The outgoing transactions from this centralized account must be blocked."
The secretary explains that existing betting companies typically make financial transactions to international accounts. However, if the transfers occur to another national account, they can also be stopped.
Latest regulations
The Ministry of Finance will publish the last five regulatory ordinances by next Wednesday as part of the process to authorize online betting companies. The most important one will define random games and fixed-odds games, where the bettor knows how much they will win if they succeed.
Regis Dudena explains that the so-called Fortune Tiger, which meet the necessary requirements for authorization and transparency, may be regulated.
"Since these are more complex games, it is expected that graphically, before starting to play, the bettor can know the outcomes in scenarios A, B, C, D, and E. It may require a visible payout table, depending on the game model. Today, there is recognition of various games being called Tigrinho. We have serious, random games and the crime scenario, which uses the game's fame to commit fraud or launder money."
The Fortune Tiger game resemble physical slot machines that spin different symbols and reward the player if the reels stop at the same symbols.
Registration with the Treasury
Companies interested in obtaining national authorization for online betting can already register on the Ministry of Finance's website and submit a series of supporting documents.
There is no deadline for bets to register. However, only those who submit registration requests by August 18 will be guaranteed authorization by January 1, 2025, according to Treasury officials. Four companies have already requested authorization from the ministry: Betano, Rei do Pitaco, Superbet, and Sportingbet.
Online betting sites in Brazil will have to be hosted on a new domain determined by the government, called bet.br. The creation of this sector-specific address aims to control fraud and minimize illegal betting activities.
Authorization requests for companies seeking legalized sites can already be submitted. The final authorization will be issued on December 31, and the site can go live the next day with the new domain.
Time and income limitation
The regulation of online betting companies will also require them to monitor bettors' online time and the percentage of their income committed to betting. Initially, the ministry will not set limits, but the department will have access to daily reports of bets placed on each authorized platform.
"It doesn't make sense to set a specific time or amount upfront. It makes sense to identify the bettor's profile and monitor the amount of time and money they bet. Our regulation will impose the duty of monitoring and setting various limits on the betting agent. The company must also provide the bettor with the ability to self-impose limits," said Regis Dudena.
The government does not yet have a survey of the total number of bets in operation today. Treasury members estimate a number between 500 and 2,000 brands, but it is difficult to identify platforms without regulation. Despite the current volume of companies operating, the expectation is that this number will significantly decrease once the authorized system is in place.
"Every new activity attracts money laundering. Imposing rules ensures that people who use unregulated activities for criminal purposes move away from this activity once regulated. Regulation is one of the main ways to curb fraud and money laundering."
Betting sites will also require users to authenticate their identity through facial recognition every time the player logs into the platform. The proper identification of the bettor should prevent the use of straw men for money laundering, according to the Treasury.
Additionally, the money won in a bet will be automatically deposited into the individual bank account registered on the site. If the betting house loses, it must pay the player within 120 minutes.
To prevent users from losing money if the company goes bankrupt, bets must prove their own guarantee fund worth R$ 5 million (US$ 885,000). The online betting law, approved by the National Congress and signed by President Lula at the end of last year, states that the betting site must have at least one Brazilian among its partners and 20% of revenue in reais.
Source: O Globo
