At BgC 2018, Pujol will participate on April 1st at 4:15 pm in the "CULTIVATE: REGULATION & OPERATION" panel, which will cover Responsible Gaming and Rules for Gaming Advertising, Payment Methods: cash, electronic payments and bitcoin and Control System and Law Enforcement, along with Paulo Duarte Lopes (Director of Gaming Activity Planning and Control Director, Ministry of Tourism of Portugal) and Peter Naessens (Director, Belgian Gaming Commission).
GMB - During next BGC edition to be held in São Paulo in April, you will be part of the panel on the world's lessons for Brazil regarding regulation and licenses. Tell us about how the invitation came from and what is your expectation for the event?
Thierry Pujol - I am kindly invited by Clarion Events as I have already participed at last Brasilian Gaming Congress in Brasilia (May 2016). In this last event I made a presentation about effective solutions to combat money laundering and suspicious betting activities. This topic was included in a session based on ''Ensuring security and integrity of games''. I am really interested to be part of this new event and to share with Brasilian colleagues and from other nationalites about the evolution of the Brasilian gaming market
As a member of the hall of fame of international lotteries, what is your assessment of the lottery moment in Brazil? Do you consider that Caixa's monopoly in the exploitation of the modality can affect the market reaching its full potential?
Caixa's monopoly is based on a decree-law established in 1967 and whose main purpose nowadays is to protect the Brazilian population against the risks of addiction, fraud and money laundering.The concept of Responsible Gaming is really crucial in terms of development in our industry. The real economic potential of the gaming activities in Brazil should not hide the fact that a strong and operational Authority of Regulation should be reinforced to control this sensitive market.
What is your opinion about the bidding process of LOTEX and which is the expectation for the exploration of instant lotteries in Brazil?
The federal government approval for the exploitation of the Exclusive Instant Lottery (LOTEX) held by the State of Rio de Janeiro has been already included in the National Privatisation program. As both Brazilian and foreign entities can participate in the bidding, this means that the process of selection and appointment should be made with care and attention. The candidates must fulfill very specific requirements in terms of technology and commercial organization: this means also that they should respect the criteria related to Responsible Gaming and Integrity. This is certainly one of the reasons why the Federal government had not published the invitation to bid until January 2018.
In addition to Caixa's monopoly and the LOTEX issue, in Brazil there is also a battle between the Union and the states of the federation on the issue of the exploitation of lotteries. How do you evaluate this Brazilian scenario and what international examples could the country follow to solve this confrontation?
Generally this is easier for a country to develop its gaming offer at a National level in terms of coordination to fight against fraud, illegal market, addiction and to protect the integrity of the market. As always a Transnational Criminal Organization (OCT) will try to develop its illegal activity among the different exploitations of lotteries, if the gaming market is disseminated for example at a provincial level. If the decision is to transfer the exploitation to the states of the federation, this means that each state should have a strong and reactive gaming regulation with an efficient coordination between these different entities.
In addition to lotteries, the panel will also deal with online games and physical venues such as casinos and bingo venues. What is the expectation for the debates on these issues within the BGC?
In my opinion the big add value of the BGC is the confrontation of ideas between experts and stakeholders at National and International levels. This is the strength of the organizers to invite professionals whose experience and opinion are different. This means that all the topics will be ''put on the table'' for the benefit of the participants.
What is your assessment of the process of gaming legalization in Brazil? Even with the slow passage to approve a law for the activity, do you believe that the country can be one of the biggest gaming industries in the world?
Definitely Brazil is one the biggest potential gaming market in the world. The issue is to develop this market in harmony with the real risks related to gambling. The development and the reinforcement of the National Authority of Regulation in Brazil is certainly one of the stakes of the future.
Source: Exclusive GMB
