Brazil's Operators Must Adhere to the AML Rules to Receive a Working Permit

The Major Conditions of the Regulation

Brazil's AML program is based on international methods for tackling funds laundering, supporting terrorism, and the spread of strategic weapons.

All parties involved in working with fixed-odds betting must:

• implement client risk identification and classification policies;
• report Brazil's Financial Intelligence Unit (COAF) about suspicious transactions;
• estimate whether a player’s spending capacity is in line with their betting activity;
• analyse the information about PEPs and their tight partners (per the COAF rules).

Brazil's Four-Stage Regulating Procedure

Brazil's Ministry of Finance has developed a phased implementation of legislative shifts to get ready for the new licensing approach.

The regulatory procedure includes 4 steps:

• issuing technical, payment and safety specifications for operators;
• publishing the AML and anti-terrorist financing policies;
• announcing of gambling promotion control details;
• introducing procedures to allocate the industry's contributions to socially responsible projects.

However, the process slowed down, as the first decree was issued with a delay of more than a month and didn't meet the Ministry of Finance's time limit. As betting firms wait for the announcement of further requirements, the government expects a rush with licence inquiries.

If operators don't submit an application for a certificate by the end of December 2024, they will be fined starting in January. Appeals sent within a 90-day window from the moment of publishing the AML policy will be checked out of the queue.

After paying a fee of BRL30m (£4.6m/€5.4m/$5.9m), local operators will gain permission for the next 5 years to provide gambling services via three skins.