Wednesday marked the closing of the EGR Power Latam Summit 2023, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An exclusive event for executives from the iGaming sector in Latin America, the conference presented trends and innovations in the gambling industry, highlighted mergers and acquisitions, as well as changes in regulations in the region.
The last panel of the event went deeper into the main South American markets: Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Peru. The speakers presented important updates and insights, in addition to answering questions from the audience.
The invited experts were Juan Camilo Carrasco (Asensi Abogados), Tomás Enrique García Botta (MF Estudio Abogados), Nicolas Samohod Rivarola (Estudio Vidal Cáceres Abogados) and Neil Montgomery (Montgomery & Associados).
Entitled “Welcome to the legal masterclass – focus on Colombia, Peru, Argentina and future planning for Brazil”, the seminar was intended to provide guidance to participants who intend to operate safely and legally in these countries that feature industries of games in full development.
Nicolas Samohod Rivarola highlighted that Peru made progress by passing a specific law for the betting sector last year. “In fact, the long-awaited betting law in Peru was published in August 2022. There is nothing like a regulated market. It is very easy to invest in Peru because our law facilitates and guarantees non-discrimination in foreign markets”.
Juan Camilo Carrasco highlighted the size of the Colombian industry. “According to the figures for each market, we can measure the size of each one. Colombia is one of the biggest markets today”.
Tomás Enrique García Botta, in turn, mentioned the peculiarities of the Argentine market. “Regardless of the licenses, Argentina has different particularities in terms of standard certifications. This generates a series of edges that can later generate problems”.
In addition, Botta reinforced the need to carefully analyze each market in which it intends to operate in order to choose the appropriate strategy for its operation. “For B2B it is not always necessary to have a local partner. Not necessarily. We have to be flexible and analyze the market”.
Neil Montgomery commented on the investment model in Brazil with regulation still pending. “Right now, Brazil is a true paradise for operators because they are not paying any taxes. That is why we are in a hurry to define the regulation”.
“Financial companies are sleeping, waiting for legalization. From the moment the licenses are granted, it will be difficult for those who don’t have them to continue operating. But I am concerned about the illegal market that will be generated, because we will not be able to monitor advertising, for example. CONAR (National Advertising Self-Regulation Council) will not be able to handle it”, he added.
Tomás Enrique García Botta also spoke about the issue of good practices in the advertising sector. “Another curious topic is responsible marketing. We cannot advertise people who are becoming millionaires with the game”.
Rivarola contributed to the issue by mentioning the rules in force in Peru. “In Peru everything is very well regulated. We cannot advertise to minors and only official pages with the ‘.PE’ domain are allowed!”