CMF would close payment channels to illegal online casinos
If the regulation is enacted as it was put up for consultation, unauthorized online casinos in Chile will not only have problems receiving deposits from their users but also paying them out. This was made clear by Catherine Tornel, president of the Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF), the body that regulates and supervises the country's financial system, when she confirmed that the restriction being prepared for payment operators also applies to payouts.
The public consultation, opened a month ago, reviews what complementary activities payment card operators are permitted to undertake. The text establishes that these services can only be provided to entities that operate in accordance with Chilean legal regulations and have the corresponding authorizations, and clarifies that the authorization does not include services linked to activities carried out abroad that would be illicit if performed in Chile.
When asked last week whether this provision would exclude casino platforms currently operating without specific authorization in the country, Tornel responded that the proposal specifically targets this type of activity. As reported by La Tercera, the CMF president recalled that the operation of casinos is permitted only for certain authorized companies, meaning that any other offering would not be legitimate and payment operators could not provide services to it. When asked about fund withdrawals, she was equally direct, stating that, if the regulation were approved in the terms consulted, payouts to illegitimate activities, a category into which this activity currently falls, could not be made either.
This statement adds another piece to a scenario full of contradictions. While the Supreme Court declared unauthorized betting platforms illegal, the Government authorized the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) to collect digital VAT from foreign platforms operating in the country and registered in a registry.
Law 19.995, in force since 2005, reserves the operation of gaming casinos in Chile to companies that obtain a permit from the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego, a framework that does not contemplate the online modality. The CMF's stance comes in parallel with the processing of the online betting bill in the Senate, where this week the Economy Committee proposed strengthening the powers of the CMF itself, the SII, the Superintendencia, and the Unidad de Análisis Financiero to pursue the illegal market.
Tags: Financial Market Commission, Catherine Tornel, payment operators in Chile, illegal online casinos in Chile