Ferreira de Sousa was already the substitute president of COAF before taking office in May of this year, and also held the position of director of Financial Intelligence and Supervision. He has been with the Ministry of Finance since 2003. Prior to that, between 1989 and 2003, he was a board advisor at the Caixa Econômica Federal, as well as a manager of several agencies.
The new president holds a MBA in Financial Management, Controllership and Auditing from Fundação Getúlio Vargas - FVG. Among the courses of improvement is the Superior Course of Politics and Strategy, completed last year at the Superior School of War.
As director of the COAF, he had as main functions the production of intelligence for the prevention and the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism and to supervise economic sectors under the responsibility of the organ.
GMB - What is your position regarding the legalization of the gaming market in Brazil?
Antonio Ferreira de Sousa - The decision on the legalization of the activity in the country is an institutional political decision. COAF only manifests itself in relation to the requirements of prevention of money laundering that must be fulfilled by any sector or economic activity that is listed in article 9 of Law 9.613 / 98.
Is the country prepared to control the movement of money that will be generated after the law? What steps should be taken?
With regard to the prevention and fight against money laundering, the country has a strong legal and institutional framework to deal with the proper controls of money movement. Certainly, some normative improvements will be necessary to adapt the country to this possible new reality. The most important is that preventive measures of customer registration; recording of operations; andcommunication of suspicious transactions -provided for in Law 9.613 / 98, in accordance with the FATF Recommendations- are effectively implemented to prevent the economic sectors from being used for money laundering. It is also important that there be an oversight and control body for this activity.
Did the legalization projects you had access to contemplate the creation and resources for new control bodies?
What is important is to ensure that the preventive measures mentioned above are effectively complied with by the sector so that there is a body capable of exercising this control.
Is today illegal gambling a more complicated problem of controlling than what could be a legal market?
An illegal activity is in case to be treated by the police.
The people who are against the legalization see the money laundering as the great enemy. Is it a solid argument?
Money laundering is certainly a risk. In order for this risk to be mitigated, it is necessary that preventive measures be effectively applied to the sector.
The world wants to come to Brazil to invest and you had the chance to receive representatives from the Las Vegas Sands group. What can you tell us about this meeting? Which topics are most important to investors?
They presented the business model and data on how the activities related to tourist complexes that contemplate the environment for gaming could generate employment and income for the country, as they have already done in other countries. The main concern is related to the risks of money laundering in the sector.
The global gaming industry moves billions, but at the same time is one of the most controlled. Could this control be exercised in Brazil so that the country collects more taxes?
The economic-financial impact of an activity is not subject to COAF's competence.
As head of a control body, do you think it is more prudent to open up the gaming market allowing just some activities first or do you consider that there would be no major problems to release the whole sector?
For us, the most important is that the sector observe the preventive measures and control requirements provided for in Law 9.613 / 98, in accordance with the FATF Recommendations.
Source: Exclusve GMB
