Congress calls for an open register of all betting licenses
The Congress of the Union of Mexico received a legislative proposal that reopens the debate on regulatory transparency in the country's gambling sector. Federal deputy Rubén Ignacio Moreira Valdez, from the PRI, presented a draft resolution to the Permanent Commission requesting the Ministry of Interior (Segob) to publish, in open data format, all current permits for casinos and authorized online sports betting platforms in Mexican territory.
The initiative was submitted on May 13, 2026, and proposes that the information be disseminated in a structured and downloadable format, detailing each concessionaire, operational address, and validity period. The permits covered are those known as Remote Betting Centers and Lottery Halls (CARSS), legal entities popularly known as casinos.
A tool against money laundering
Moreira framed the proposal within the national agenda against money laundering in the betting and lottery sector. He argues that a public and open registry would facilitate the work of financial supervisory bodies, allow cross-referencing with tax rolls, and give citizens the ability to immediately identify whether a venue or platform has official authorization.
The proposal addresses a specific problem in the Mexican market: the historical opacity of the list of permit holders and the coexistence of formal players with irregular operators. The absence of a publicly accessible registry has, according to legislators and specialists, facilitated the operation of offshore sites that offer unlicensed betting and hinders administrative prosecution.
The backdrop: pending reform of the regulatory framework
Moreira's proposal comes at a particular time for Mexico, a market that operates under a 1947 Federal Law on Games and Lotteries and regulations patched up by successive decrees. The update of the regulatory framework appears recurrently on the parliamentary agenda, without any project having achieved sufficient consensus to advance. The demand for an open registry is presented as an intermediate step: it does not require fundamental reform and can be implemented administratively.
The Mexican movement is part of a regional trend that crosses most Latin American markets: pressure for regulatory transparency, public registries of operators, and open data on licenses. Colombia maintains a visible registry of online operators, Brazil has just published its list of authorized companies, and Argentina is advancing with provincial registries. Moreira's initiative would bring Mexico to a practice that is already standard in other regulated markets in the region.
Tags: Mexico, Segob, Mexico Congress, Mexico gambling regulation, casino licensing transparency