Brazil’s Ministry of Finance publishes ordinance with compliance deadlines for sports betting operators as anticipation of market regulation

Today (September 17, 2024), the Brazilian Ministry of Finance’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting published Ordinance No. 1.475/2024 (text available in Portuguese here), which establishes conditions and deadlines for sports betting operators to comply with local regulations.

As a result, only active companies that have formally requested authorization from the Ministry of Finance by the date of the ordinance’s publication (September 17, 2024) may continue operating in Brazil as of October 1, 2024.

Running fixed-odds betting in Brazil without authorization or without having submitted a request for authorization to the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting is prohibited after this deadline.

Sports betting operators that did not request authorization before the ordinance was published will receive requests to have their sites blocked as of October 11, 2024. These companies must ensure the funds deposited by bettors are securely held and refunded to them upon request. Bettors may withdraw their deposits through the operator’s internet domain until October 10, 2024.

Those companies that have already requested authorization are now subject to a transition period. By September 30, 2024, they must indicate their active brands and the respective internet domains they will use to provide services during this transition period.

Ordinance No. 1.475/2024 takes immediate effect on the date of its publication.

For more information on sports betting, please contact Mattos Filho’s Entertainment practice area.