Brazil publishes 2,000 pages on betting authorizations
Brazil's Ministry of Finance has made public over 2,000 pages of documents related to the authorization process for the 85 companies approved to operate fixed-odds sports betting in the country. The documentation, published by the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, compiles the technical analyses carried out during the process by which companies obtained authorization to operate in the regulated market, in line with the transparency policy promoted by the federal government since the beginning of the sector's regulation. As explained by the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, the publication allows for a more detailed understanding of the criteria used by the administration to evaluate companies that applied for authorization.
Among the available documents are the technical opinions for legal qualification, suitability analyses, origin of funds, and payment for authorization, in addition to the final analysis report for each process. This way, the files reveal how the legal and corporate requirements of the companies were evaluated, the suitability of their controllers and administrators, the origin of funds, their economic and financial capacity, as well as compliance with the corresponding payment to obtain authorization. The disclosure will be gradual, as the documents must first undergo a review process to remove personal data, confidential information, and other content protected by Brazilian data protection legislation, in a joint effort with the Comptroller General of the Union. The first stage includes documents considered relevant to understanding the basis of the granted authorizations, and new sets of information will be incorporated as the process of adaptation to the general data protection law is completed.
The announcement came in the same context in which the ministry reported new figures on individuals restricted from accessing betting platforms. Durigan noted that more than 5 million people are prevented from betting on regulated platforms for various reasons, and within that universe, about 800,000 had active accounts and were excluded after joining the debt renegotiation program Novo Desenrola Brasil, known as Desenrola 2.0, whose rules keep these users from placing online bets for at least six months.
The restriction was implemented through an update to the regulated market monitoring system, which incorporated a cadastral status to identify users affected by the program, so that, once this condition is detected through the official system interface, platforms must suspend the corresponding accounts. According to the data released, the more than 5 million users affected by the various restrictions are distributed among approximately 3 million beneficiaries of Bolsa Família and the Continuous Cash Benefit, 1.2 million people who voluntarily requested self-exclusion, and the more than 800,000 participants of Desenrola 2.0, a total that does not include other groups also prohibited from betting, such as certain officials linked to the sector, professional athletes, referees, executives, and other participants in sports activities.
Tags: Brazilian Ministry of Finance, Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, Desenrola 2.0, Dario Durigan