Pierre Tournier will participate in the inaugural day of BgC 2018, on Monday, April 23 at 11.30, in the panel "CULTIVATE: REGULATION & LICENSING - LESSONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD" seeking a consistent and sustainable model in Brazil is nothing short of complex. This session will detail the regulatory and licensing requirements that the model law would require and bring examples of ideal regulatory models within the vertical matrix, including best practice relevant to Brazil in various verticals as best practices Online Gaming (Sports Betting & Online Casino), Land Based Gaming (Casino, Bingo and Lotteries). Alongside him will be Thierry Pujol, International Consultant Member of the Hall of Fame of Lottery Industry and Sissel Weitzhandler, Group Compliance Manager, Play'n Go.
GMB - Tell us about Remote Gambling Association’s activities and main tasks within the gaming industry
Pierre Tournier - The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) is the largest trade association representing the online gambling industry in the world. We represent most of the world’s largest licensed and stock-market listed online gambling operators and software providers. We provide the online gambling industry with a single voice on all the issues of importance to regulators, legislators, and key decision-makers. The full list of members is available on our website.
What evaluation do you make of BgC, where you participate as a speaker?
We are delighted to be invited to speak at the BgC and this is first time we will attend this event, which is the most significant forum in Brazil to discuss the regulation of gambling, including online gambling. We are convinced that it will give us a great opportunity to share our experience about the regulation of online gambling in world’s markets and contribute to the ongoing debate in Brazil.
How do you see the Brazilian market and what analysis you do about the delay on getting a gaming law?
According to the KPMG study that we commissioned last year, Brazil’s online gambling market could potentially become the second largest regulated market in the world. There is obviously a lot of interest among our members and we are keen to help Brazil’s Government to design a regime that would be beneficial to the Government, the industry and consumers. We appreciate a consensus among legislators and members of the government has yet to be built and many issues remain to be discussed but we are convinced that a suitable regulatory plan could be adopted and implemented with a reasonable period of time.
Operators from all over the world want to enter Brazil. How to reconcile this expectation with the delay on having a complete regulation?
According to the KPMG study, the online gambling market in Brazil is already well developed and its rests upon the Brazilian Government to regulate it in a way that is workable and sufficiently attractive in order for operators to apply for a license and continue to operate in the country. The most critical question is not so much when but how the market should be regulated.
How do you explain the issue of regulation and licensing at the global level so that the Brazilian authorities understand the modus operandi of the gaming industry?
Based on our experience in other markets, most especially in Europe, most Governments try to achieve mainly three objectives when regulating the online gambling sector: a) reducing the size of the unregulated market, b) protecting consumers from the potential harm caused by gambling, most especially the most vulnerable and minors, and c) raising additional tax revenues.
Our views is that the best regulatory approach to achieve all these objectives at once has three key features: a) a licensing regime open to international operators must be put in place, b) all the products must be regulated and authorised, and c) the taxation system must be based on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). Such a regime would be instrumental in attracting international operators, making sure that all gambling operations take place under the control of the Government, which will then be able to protect the most vulnerable by setting out adequate safeguards and raise additional tax revenues accordingly.
Is it easier or more difficult to create regulations from the ground, in a country like Brazil that has no gaming industry?
We believe that the best way to approach this is to look at what has already been done in jurisdictions that have successfully regulated the sector. A number of countries in Europe have adopted online gambling laws over the past ten years and should be used as a benchmark for the Brazilian Government. Sharing best practices is most certainly the way to go and we are prepared to help the Brazilian Government conduct this exercise. Importantly also, regulating the online gambling sector in an efficient manner would not require so much time, efforts nor resources as experience has shown in countries such as Denmark, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Source: Exclusive GMB
