Legal & compliance – Bookielink

LatAm Q3 results round-up: Brazil betting launch dominates discussions

With the majority of the gambling industry having published their Q3 results, iGB looks at how operators fared in the region and their plans for the future there.

Brazil will launch its legal betting market on 1 January 2025 and one operator that is hoping to make a real dent in the market is the giant Flutter Entertainment.

Back in September, Flutter announced it had agreed to acquire an initial 56% stake in NSX Group, which operates the Brazil-facing Betnacional brand. The deal is worth $350 million (£266.5 million/€316.0 million).

For the nine months ending 30 September, Flutter reported year-on-year revenue growth in Brazil of 4%. In its earnings call following the Q3 results release, CFO Rob Coldrake spoke of the operator’s excitement for the market opening.

“We’re very confident about our approach in Brazil,” Coldrake told reporters. “We’ve grown with our brands that we’ve got there already. We’re very excited about the NSX acquisition.”

The NSX acquisition will create a new..

November 14, 2024

Betting with benefits banned in Brazil pending final approval

Minister for Brazil's Federal Supreme Court Luis Fux has filed an injunction to ban betting via Brazil's Bolsa Familia social welfare cheque. The measure will be put to an emergency session of the Brazilian chamber of deputies today with plans to enforce it effective immediately.

The decision was made after a two-day hearing at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), initiated on Monday 12 November, sought to investigate the impacts of betting in Brazil and determine whether the law governing the upcoming legal market is constitutional.

The STF hearing was called following a request from Brazil’s third biggest trade union, the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), filed an ADI (Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade) which is a legal action in Brazil intended to overturn a law that conflicts with the country’s Constitution.

Brazil’s betting sector, which is preparing to receive initial licences shortly, has faced significant backlash from politicia..

November 13, 2024

Brazil forms parliamentary betting commission to address gambling concerns

The parliamentary inquiry commission (CPI) on betting was formed in Brazil yesterday (12 November) ahead of the legal market launch on 1 January 2025, so senators can discuss their concerns with the industry.

The betting CPI was initially proposed on 8 October, with Senator Soraya Thronicke requesting its creation to investigate the “growing influence of online virtual gambling games on [Brazilian families’ financial spending]”.

Thronicke’s request received the 27 signatures needed but the group’s formation was delayed amid uncertainty over who would serve on the inquiry.

Thronicke was assigned the CPI’s lead, while Senator Dr Hiran Gonçalves will chair the commission with Senator Alessandro Vieira as vice chair.

The CPI will have 11 members and seven substitutes, with an initial 130 days in which to carry out its work and its next meeting will be next Tuesday (19 November), although Thronicke did not disclose the names of the first witnesses.

Dr Gonçalves ended the meeting by sa..

November 13, 2024

Tabcorp fined for in-play betting breach, ACMA issues more blocking orders

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has fined Tabcorp AU$262,920 (£134,731/€161,778/US$171,731) for breaching rules on in-play betting, while the regulator has also issued banning orders against a further seven illegal gambling websites.

An AMCA investigation, reported today (13 November), found Tabcorp was taking online in-play sports bets, which is illegal under Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001. In total, Tabcorp accepted 854 in-play bets across 69 tennis matches between April and October 2023.

Tabcorp said the breaches were the result of a technical bug in its systems. The first error occurred in April 2023 but was not fixed until October 2023. Tabcorp also noted it voided all bets, meaning consumers did not suffer losses, nor did it profit from the errors.

However, ACMA proceeded with the financial penalty, noting Tabcorp has previously been warned over in-play betting. In November 2021, Tabcorp was issued a formal warning for accepting in-play bets..

November 12, 2024

ANJL: Brazil black market will grow if betting law is deemed unconstitutional

The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has said Brazil's black market activity would increase if the Supreme Court deems its betting law unconstitutional.

On Monday (11 November), the ANJL shared its thoughts at the ongoing Federal Supreme Court (STF) hearing which will determine whether Law No 14,790/2023 for legalised sports betting in Brazil is considered unconstitutional.

The two-day public hearing this week is investigating the impacts of betting in Brazil, with a number of big industry names speaking at the event. It was initiated after Brazil’s third biggest trade union, the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), requested the betting law be declared unconstitutional.

The union filed an ADI (Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade), which is a legal action in Brazil that seeks to uphold a law or act that goes against the constitution.

The rapporteur of ADI 7721 is minister Luis Fux, who said on Monday the STF must assess t..

November 6, 2024

Brazil senate president still expects betting CPI creation despite delays, weeks before legal market launch

Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco still expects a parliamentary inquiry commission (CPI) on betting in Brazil to be established despite ongoing delays, with the legal market just weeks away.

On 8 October, Senator Soraya Thronicke requested the creation of a CPI into betting in Brazil, with the aim of investigating the “growing influence of online virtual gambling games on the budget of Brazilian families”.

The request surpassed the 27 signatures needed, with the commission having 130 days after its establishment to carry out its work. It will have 11 full members and seven substitutes.

The CPI was expected to be installed on 25 October. However, its creation was delayed due uncertainty over which senators would work on the inquiry.

Pacheco maintains the momentum for the establishment of the CPI on betting hasn’t been lost. Its creation is vital, he said, with the legal betting market set to launch in Brazil on 1 January 2025.

“It [the CPI] needs to be installed now and made to work..

November 5, 2024

DSWV stands up for regulated European peers after documentary’s amateur sports betting claims

The German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) has hit back after a documentary implied Germans were able to bet on amateur football matches with licensed operators in other EU countries.

German television broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk recently released a documentary entitled “Attack on amateur soccer – the greed of betting providers”.

The DSWV said the programme misled viewers into believing Germans could circumvent a ban on betting on domestic amateur sports, and place wagers with licensed betting providers in other European Union (EU) countries.

The documentary concealed “important facts” from the audience, the DSWV continued. It pointed out international providers use geolocation to prevent cross-border betting. The film includes a German customer deliberately working around those measures, although the DSWV claimed that wasn’t made clear, thus implying it was easy to circumvent such restrictions.

Additionally, the film didn’t make clear the customer would not be able to clai..

October 31, 2024

Former Brazil finance ministry advisor warns against banning online betting

José Francisco Manssur, former special secretary of the Brazil ministry of finance, has cautioned that a ban on online betting would be a backwards step for the country.

On 21 October, Senator Sérgio Petecão proposed Bill 4,031/2024 to ban online betting in Brazil over concerns it is driving fiscal debt and gambling addiction.

The bill is the latest in a string of initiatives by politicians to restrict online betting in Brazil, which is set to launch its legal market on 1 January 2025.

Manssur played a key role in Brazil passing its online betting legislation over the line, before he left his position as an advisor in February of this year, subsequently becoming a partner at law firm CSMV Advogados.

With 269 companies having so far applied for a betting licence ahead of the January launch, Manssur says there is clear evidence the industry supports the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets’ (SPA) regulations and deems them sufficient in protecting players.

In an op-ed for Poder 360 dat..

October 30, 2024

Brazil ministry of finance agrees partnerships with match-fixing monitoring bodies

On Tuesday (29 October), Brazil's ministry of finance announced it has agreed to partner with four industry monitoring and integrity organisations to aid the fight against match-fixing.

The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), which sits within the ministry of finance, penned Technical Cooperation Agreements (ACTs) with Genius Sports, Sportradar, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) and the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (Siga and Siga Latin America) to counter fears over match-fixing in Brazil.

The partnerships will last for five years, with the collaborations aiming to strengthen the safety network surrounding the manipulation of sports in Brazil. They will consider the bodies’ learnings and experience in more mature markets like England and Australia.

The agreements will also serve to help the SPA gain knowledge of the betting market in Brazil, educating SPA teams on how to monitor the legal sports betting sector, which is set to go live alongside igamin..

October 28, 2024

Weekend Report: Operators criticised for research tax credits in Australia, McGregor banks €7m in betting winnings

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: Australia treasurer blasts gambling operators over research tax credits, personnel changes at Aristocrat and SkyCity and Connor McGregor banks €7m in betting winnings.

Australia government mulls changes to research tax credits in gambling industry

Firstly this week, the Australian government could change the rules for gambling and betting operators that want to receive government research tax concessions. This comes after it emerged they claimed almost AU$90 million (£45.8 million/€54.9 million/US$59.5 million) in one year.

According to the Guardian, figures from the Australian tax office show four major gambling companies claimed $86.5 million in credits between them in 2021-22. These include Tabcorp, which received $39.5 million, Aristocrat with $22.2 million, Ainsworth Game Technology at $15 million and PointsBet $10 million.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers h..

October 24, 2024

NetX latest to receive KSA fine for illegal gambling in Netherlands

Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has issued NetX Betting with a fine of up to €675,000 (£561,748/$729,183) for offering online gambling without a licence on its Pferdewetten.de and Betbird.com domains. The penalty also covers a policy of NetX's to fine inactive players after a certain period of time.

This is the latest in a slew of financial penalties handed out by the KSA. Earlier this week Winbet, the operator of Galaxyspins.com, Winnercasino1.bet, Superb1.bet and Doctorspins.com, was warned that it may have to pay up to €840,000 for offering unlicensed gambling products. Last week, the regulator also sent a similar communication to BlokDance for offering gambling activities via its bc.game and bcgame.lu domains.

The NetX case dates back to December 2022 when KSA first investigated the operator for illegal activity in the Netherlands. KSA found Dutch players were able to access and gamble via its Pferdewetten.de website.

Website visitors could bet on horse ..

October 23, 2024

Latest bill calls for online betting ban in Brazil

A bill to ban online sports betting in Brazil has been proposed by senator Sérgio Petecão on concerns that betting impacts mental health and drives financial debt.

Bill 4.031/2024 was put to the senate on 21 October. It is the latest in a series of initiatives by politicians to restrict online betting in Brazil, months before the licensed market is scheduled to open on 1 January 2025.

Preparations to award licences are in motion but various senators and public figures have expressed concern. Key issues are the impact that online betting can have on vulnerable groups including the elderly and those receiving social benefits.

Concern stems from a controversial study that claimed regular bettors have sacrificed money meant for food and medicine to wager. Despite its small sample size (1,337 consumers polled) and controversial findings, the study received significant media coverage.

Industry awaiting President Lula betting update

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to..

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Tag: Legal & compliance