Sérgio Jardim, General Director of Clarion Events Brasil, opened the meeting by greeting the registrants, sponsors and GMB, the company's official media partner, and explained that the traditional BgC was adapted to the digital model due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon after, one of the most awaited panels of the event began, with Waldir Eustáquio Marques Jr., Undersecretary of Prizes and Draws of Brazil’s Ministry of Economy.
Igor “Federal” Trafane, president of the Pan American Poker Confederation, opened the BgC remembering that since 2012 he has been working alongside Clarion Events Brasil and that “it is an honor to be at the opening alongside a great figure in Brazil in charge of matters and guidelines regarding the regulation of gambling in the country.” Thus, he greeted Waldir Marques Jr., who thanked for having been chosen to open this year's meeting.
Igor said it was a great mission to hear from the Brazilian government about gaming activity. The Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Economy stated that the SECAP team has been working for a long time and trying to do the best in the area, both for the sector and for the government and for society. “It is hard and complex work. As soon as the legislation came out, we were working to regulate the activity through authorizations. Over time and listening to the market, we understand - and for legal reasons - that we should do it as a concession. We opted for this and included the activity in a government privatization program so that the project became strategic. The decree was published naming BNDES as the operation manager, placing SECAP as the operation supervisor,” he explained.
Waldir Jr. assured that, in view of this new format, a working group composed of three parts was set up: “Not only BNDES and SECAP, but PPI is also part of this group. We have specific weekly meetings to address this topic. A federal contract was signed with the BNDES, the term of reference has already been approved in all instances and will soon be signed. Thus, this month, the BNDES should start a dialogue with the major players in the market so that it can estimate prices to identify the consultancy service providers that will subsidize us with specific modeling, economic-financial and legal studies.”
The great advantage, in their analysis, is that the consultants will also study the possibility of turning to the authorization model. “We hope that these studies are ready as soon as possible so that we make the most assertive decision and that it provides transparency and legal certainty for all operators. And always looking at the issue of safety, consumer protection, responsible gambling, and prevention of money laundering,” he explained.
Igor Trafane asked Waldir about the difference between authorization and concession, in which he received the information that “authorization is a precarious act. A company only needs to meet certain requirements and it will be entitled to operate the activity. The concession is more secure and there will be a contract between the private and the public authorities, with specific rules and obligations and duties on both sides. Authorization is a precarious act, while the concession is a more solid act for companies that come to operate in Brazil, with very high investments,” he explained.
One of the biggest doubts in the market and that was presented by Igor is about the number of licenses. “The answer is not eminently political, but technical. But for it to be made public, we need subsidies and information, which we hope that the studies to be contracted by the BNDES will reach us. The decision will be made based on facts and the federal government expects the studies to contain this data to define how many licenses will fit in Brazil,” he said.
"All decisions made at SECAP are technical and based on legislation," said Waldir Marques Jr. when Igor asked about the possibility of political decisions being made in defining the number of licenses or business model.
"You represent the dialogue and the service to the industry, and everyone places on you this expectation of technical conduct of the theme," said Igor when asking Waldir about how he views this sector. The director of SECAP stated that this technical responsibility belongs to his entire team and that the regulation will come from a lot of knowledge and understanding about the activity.
Deadlines for regulations of sports betting business
Igor went straight to the point when stating that the market wants to know deadlines. “The international industry wants to know if it can already hire Brazilians and create jobs in our country, as well as renting properties and continuing to advertise. Football teams already display sports betting brands on their jerseys and the stadiums already have signs of the main international companies in the sector. But the government is not yet collecting taxes and jobs are not being generated. It is obvious that this is a process and, therefore, instead of seeing it in a negative way, we see that resources are coming in through advertising and the generation of indirect taxes. But major investments and official hiring and installation of companies in Brazil have not yet started. When will this happen?” asked Igor.
Waldir said the government's intention is to generate taxes and jobs, but everything involves deep technical issues. “Government technicians are exploring all issues regarding proper regulation and this is taking time. I know that expectations are high, and the market has been waiting and asking. We are doing everything possible so that we can understand the matter and talk to the market. After authorized by the government, we will have a constant dialogue with the market.”
“The pandemic has slowed the process down, but we are getting back on the job. We asked the BNDES for a schedule, as we need it to disclose to the market. For me, until July 2021 the regulation will be in place,” he assured. "If this is the period with which the government works in a planned way, it makes the market leave this first opening talk about BgC very excited," said Igor.
End of Union’s monopoly on lotteries
Regarding the end of the monopoly on the exploitation of lotteries by the Union, Waldir Jr. said that “we were already looking for the end of the monopoly when we placed the instant lottery for private initiative. It is healthy to bring a competitive environment to the sector and the world outside welcomes our initiative”, he commented. "The STF's decision only came to ratify the government's intention and it is very good for delivering security to all state operators," he said.
Besides sports betting, what about online gambling?
Igor asked Waldir about "how SECAP sees the miscellaneous that the term game involves." The SECAP official stated that the STF's decision cannot be interpreted as a blank letter for other types of gambling that are not lotteries to be disseminated.
“We have already seen decisions that covered video poker, video lottery and video bingo. So that this does not happen, our intention is to release a rule to avoid confusion and show our understanding of the decision in the lottery issue and showing its differentials with games of chance and skill,” he commented, stating that the government's objective it is to make it clear that there will be no legal certainty for modalities other than the lottery. "We cannot provide legal certainty for an activity without a specific law, such as bingos and casinos," he concluded
Source: Exclusive GMB
