The beginning of regulation of the sports betting and online gaming market brought an increase in supervision by the Ministry of Treasury. Since January 1st, the folder began receiving data from bettors and, in the coming days, will monitor the financial flow related to betting.
This initiative aims to ensure stricter control of financial transactions, seeking to identify suspicious activities and curb irregular practices.
According to regulations, the concept of “responsible gaming” requires platforms to cross-reference betting data with players’ income. This measure seeks to avoid problems such as over-indebtedness, dependence and other social consequences.
Platforms must also offer options to limit time spent betting, financial losses, amounts deposited or number of bets placed. Additionally, they need to implement alerts and temporarily block accounts when necessary.
The data will be transmitted to the government through the Betting Management System (Sigap), in an initially staggered process due to the high volume of information.
According to the Secretary of Prizes and Bets at the Ministry of Treasury, Régis Dudena, “We started to receive the databases of registered bettors. From then on, in the next few days, we will begin to receive the financial movements associated with each of these bettors”.
Registration and migration to the regulated market
The transition to the regulated market does not occur automatically. Players need to authorize their migration by registering again with facial recognition and linking a bank account to the platform.
Those who choose not to migrate will be able to withdraw their funds from the old sites. All authorized bookmakers are based in Brazil and must operate exclusively under the “.bet.br” domain.
Dudena estimates that, by mid-January, it will be possible to determine the number of active bettors, as well as the daily values of bets, deposits, wins and losses.
“By the middle of the month, it is possible that we will already know more or less how many bettors we have, how much they have bet daily, how much they have deposited daily, how much they have gained and how much they have lost”.
Authorized betting companies and deadlines
Currently, the Treasury has granted definitive authorizations to 14 betting companies, each of which can operate up to three brands. Companies that wish to operate with new brands must request an additional grant.
In addition, another 54 companies received provisional authorizations, which require compliance with additional requirements, such as the presentation of mandatory technical certificates.
These temporary authorizations were granted upon payment of a grant fee of R$30 million. Companies have up to 30 days, extendable for another 30, to settle their outstanding issues.
Dudena stated: “not only have we not identified anything about the past, but she cannot slip at any point in the future. Any deviation may be subject to a sanctioning process, which may even lead to the revocation of the authorization.”
Companies that do not comply with the requirements will have their requests rejected and may appeal administratively. Bookmakers outside the Treasury list will be prohibited from operating in Brazil, while states can accredit bets with territorial restrictions.
Combating irregularities with unauthorized bets
Since October, the Ministry of Treasury, in partnership with the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), has been deactivating illegal websites. According to Dudena, just taking down websites is not enough.
One of the essential steps is the “financial strangulation” of irregular companies. The law that regulates the market prohibits financial institutions from processing unauthorized betting transactions.
There are negotiations with financial sector associations to identify illegal companies, using methodologies based on the “know your customer” concept. Thus, the financial transactions of these companies have specific patterns, such as accounts that receive amounts from various CPFs and transfer part to exchange banks abroad.
Dudena explained: “The website is going to be taken down all the time. The financial institutions that handle your money will begin to impose restrictions. When it manages to centralize and send it to an exchange bank, if we manage to stop Pix, the money won’t arrive either. Then it starts to become very expensive to continue operating.”
Another focus of combat is advertising illegal betting, especially on social media. The Treasury intends to publish a list of authorized companies and create mechanisms for social media to monitor their platforms. The regulation also covers physical advertising.
Report and outlook
With the market regulated, the Treasury intends to publish a detailed report later this year, containing data on players and values transferred. So far, only estimates exist.
The Central Bank calculated that gross transfers from Brazilians via Pix to betting sites totaled R$20 billion per month between January and August 2024. According to the Secretary of Prizes and Bets, more time is needed to consolidate the data and guarantee report accuracy.
He commented: “In the case of online games, they are already active, so there will be a little greater clarity, but for us to truly understand the size of the market, in terms of number of bettors and financial volumes, we will need of a few months.”
The government may implement additional measures to combat over-indebtedness and addiction, depending on the effectiveness of the initial rules. Finally, prohibitions include the use of credit cards for betting, offering entry bonuses and the participation of minors.
