“We are confident that Brazil will open with the best conditions and opportunities”

GMB - First of all, tell us about GLI trayectory, experience and the markets or jurisdictions where the company is present
Karen Sierra-Hughes - Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) is an independent consultancy and certification entity for the gaming and lottery industry, including land-based and iGaming. We work with regulators in more than 475 jurisdictions worldwide and are accredited in every jurisdiction in the world where the certification process is a requirement.
In order to provide dedicated and customized service to regulators and suppliers, GLI has more than 20 laboratories located in every region of the world including North America, Latin America, Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Europe so that we can deliver direct, localized, informed services with an approach that offers global experience with a local focus. In addition to our certification and audit services, we provide policy and regulatory development consultancy services for regulators. Those are part of the broad range of services we provide, and other services include forensics, professional services, research and development, training, responsible gaming, field inspection services, and anti-money laundering policy consultation. Specific to readers of Games Magazine Brazil, it is important to note that we have been fully committed to the region for nearly two decades, and we have a fully realized presence across LatAm and the Caribbean with a fully functioning laboratory in Argentina and offices in Mexico, Lima and Puerto Rico.

Last December, you participated in a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies called "Regulatory Framework for Gaming in Brazil". Did you feel that at that time the approval of a law was closer than ever?
The purpose of our participation in the public hearing was to provide information to legislators that will help them understand the global regulatory and compliance process. This process allows for gaming to be an important part of the economies of jurisdictions around the world while securing and guaranteeing the transparency, integrity and due tax collection of the operations. It is crucial that the message gets to all the levels of government. This will help to create assurance that, as long as there is a strong regulatory model where the future regulatory body will be embodied with the competence and tools to issue regulations according to the reality of the country, there remains the possibilities to adapt regulations to new technology. Legislators must also provide a budget for training to maintain the capabilities and professionalization and a structure sufficient to effectively supervise and control the industry as well as concentrate on a preventive model. This will help to create an air of certainty for the operators on the requirements and compliance of the process and a situation where penalization will be the less of the work regulators are dedicated to. Brazil is an extremely important potential market for the global gaming industry and is in everyone’s best interest that such a critical market opens with the best conditions and opportunities for healthy growth of the industry. At GLI, we are confident that Brazil will achieve that goal.

Did Brazilian politicians contact you on legal and regulatory aspects of gaming?
GLI’s policy is to assist regulators around the world in their efforts to regulate gaming, and Brazil will not be an exception to our usual efforts to provide updated, impartial and trusted advice. We have done this for many regulators around the world, especially in the LatAm and Caribbean region from the policy, regulatory and technical standards standpoint. As you mentioned before, we participated in the public hearing in the Congress, and we have been very active in all the efforts that the private and public sector are doing to benefit from global regulatory best practices to eventually form future Brazilian gaming regulations. We work with more than 475 jurisdictions, and that allows us to provide a world of insight to interested parties in Brazil. There is a tremendous amount of history that Brazil can draw from, which means they don’t have to reinvent the wheel as they move forward. It’s only a matter of customizing the best global practices to their local needs and reality, particularly when some of the LatAm jurisdictions can already be counted in the list of best regulated in the industry.

What do you think that stop or slow down the legalization of gaming in Brazil? Do you consider that is incredible that the market has not yet been opened?
For those of us who have been part of the regulatory landscape of the region for some time, it is not so surprising or incredible. Gaming is never the first priority in the legislator’s agenda in our region. We see Mexico as an example, where several projects of law had been discussed at the Chamber of Deputies and Senate level for more than 10 years now and still no approval has been achieved. A similar situation was experienced in Guatemala. There are many foreign factors that affect the approval of a law in these countries. When national security and economic matters come into play, gaming is usually the lowest priority. Specifically for Brazil, in addition to the usual many interests that are involved in the legalization from the private and public sector, the political situation that affected the country has also been a factor slowing down the process. We can only hope that all the stakeholders in the legislative process are taking advantage of this time to deeply analyze the worldwide regulatory models and understand how they can customize those.

Recently, in Juegos Miami, you were next to authorities of the Ministry of Finance that presented LOTEX and Fixed-odd bettings. Does GLI participate in certification processes? Have you given support in the bidding they launched?
I was honored with the opportunity to moderate the panel where the Brazil government clearly explained the process they are following for the establishment of the economic model for LOTEX and the conditions for the bid process and where it was also carefully explained the plans that SEAE has for the legalization of fixed odds sports betting. Specifically for LOTEX, they are relying on the formal advice of BNDES; exactly how and what the certification process will be should be determined in later stages of the process. The public bid is not announced yet for LOTEX, and the project of law for the legalization of the fixed odds sports betting following the LOTEX model is not yet presented in the Congress.

Do your customers ask for advice to enter the Brazilian market?
As an independent laboratory, we do not provide advice to the private sector. What we certainly do is provide factual and accurate information that is public and that is then used by suppliers that are our clients as part of their analysis process to determine what needs to be done to prepare to enter the jurisdiction. The projects of law that are pending discussion in the legislature in Brazil include the homologation process and monitoring and control systems for tax collection. LatAm and global suppliers have been proactive by advancing the technical compliance process, per the best practices and global industry standards, to prepare themselves and be in the best position to enter the market once the legalization of the industry is achieved. We see suppliers who are taking this route are now in the possibility of entering other regulated markets where certification is required, while the legalization of gaming in Brazil is still in process.
Are many Brazilian companies now exporting their products to legal markets around the world?
Yes, and this relates to my response to your previous question. We see traditional and new Brazilian suppliers in the position to enter regulated jurisdictions and starting to do agreements to achieve global penetration.

How much progress has been made over the last years in monitoring and control systems? What are the main enemies today?
Technology evolves every day. That can be a challenge for regulators as they evaluate their rules and laws to accommodate for new technologies that players want. However, this technological evolution can also benefit regulators, and monitoring and control systems are a great example. Today, regulators can gain greater insight into operations and ensure rules are being implemented correctly and taxes are being collected accurately. Specifically to Latin America, Peru has been a leader in this area and is the jurisdiction with the largest amount of interconnected gaming devices today. During one of our recent Latin America and Caribbean Regulators Roundtables, Peruvian regulators were kind enough to invite our attendees to their facility for a tour and learn best practices. They shared with regulators of the region that achieving 100 percent control of the legal operations is possible. Similar achievements with different levels of compliance and control took place in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. There has to be strong determination, plan and execution for the national monitoring and control of gaming in a country which must include an open-door policy, just as Mr. Manuel San Roman, Peru regulator, always advises. Listening to the industry and understanding their technology and how the control models can be customized to fit the local market is crucial.

GLI is a specialist in the iGaming area, the progress of online gaming seems to have no limit, right?
As an expert consultant for government entities and certification entity, we are in the position to have first-hand previews of new technology as it enters the global gaming industry. There is no doubt that gaming will not be an exception to the influence that new technology has in all the industries and our lives, and the gaming industry is benefiting from it to attract the preference of a diverse public. Our role is to support the industry’s objective in maintaining the fairness, transparency, integrity and auditability of the games. New technologies bring new challenges, and we feel honored to be able to be part of the establishment of best practices and standards to allow for those objectives. We always celebrate the importance of the GLI technical standards, and we promote the public reference to it. We believe that this part of our contribution to the industry as the only entity that continuously works on creating and updating standards that apply to all type of technologies available in the industry. This is why we continually review and update each of our standards, and where there was a gap in standards, such as with iGaming and the GLI-19 standard on interactive gaming, we will work with stakeholders across the industry to create standards to streamline processes. So, is there a ceiling? Consumer demand will ultimately dictate that. However, as long as iGaming is relevant, GLI will stand with suppliers, regulators, and operators to ensure it is a fair, safe, secure environment for players.

What is your expectation towards a new participation in BGC this year?
In LatAm and Caribbean, we firmly believe forums that promote the knowledge and understanding of the gaming industry and global best practices is a must for GLI. Especially in Brazil, the need for continuous learning and exposition to the global gaming industry is important. It provides evidence that gaming is an industry that is an important part of the economies of regulated jurisdictions and that many of the stakeholders are seriously considering the opportunities of a future regulated Brazilian market.

Source: Exclusive GMB