According to CNN Brazil on 29 January, the Federal Police in Brazil is fighting against land-based casinos regulation, which is expected to pass in H1 this year. The force is concerned by a potential rise in money-laundering triggered by land-based legalisation.
The bill proposes the legalisation of casino venues, jogo do bicho, bingo and betting on horseracing at retail spots.
However, the bill has faced opposition over fears it could gambling addiction stemming from legalisation, including from high-ranking politicians such as Eduardo Girão, who believes land-based regulation would be a “mistake”.
According to the CNN report, the Federal Police sent the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) a list of projects which it would either support or act against. This is used to flag issues that may impact the work of the police force.
Wiliam Murad, the Federal Police’s deputy director general, signed the document, which included land-based gambling in its list of opposed national projects as the force is concerned it could drive money laundering occurrences.
This has been sent to the MJSP to as part of a survey on bills currently in process within the senate.
Delays to land-based casino legalisation
The bill to legalise land-based betting was passed by the Justice and Citizenship Committee in June 2024, approved by a narrow 14-12 vote.
It has since faced several delays, the latest of which came in December when senator Irajá Silvestre withdrew the bill after a debate over the proposal.
It looks likely to pass this year despite the opposition, key stakeholders are expecting president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to approve and sanction the bill within the first half of this year.
A welcome boost for tourism in Brazil?
Though there are concerns over the potential impact of land-based gambling on addiction, Brazil will benefit hugely from the new sector and this likely to sway the government.
Particularly, the legalisation of land-based betting could provide a huge shot in the arm for Brazil’s under-performing tourism sector.
Alex Pariente, corporate senior vice-president of casino and hotel operations at Hard Rock International previously told iGB in September how much potential there is for land-based gambling to benefit tourism in Brazil.
Pariente drew a comparison to the Dominican Republic, where Hard Rock operates an integrated resort. Despite being about 175 times smaller than Brazil in terms of land mass, the Dominican Republic attracted over 10 million tourists in 2023, while Brazil welcomed only around six million.
“Brazil is an absolute beautiful country and very diverse,” Pariente told iGB. “There’s absolutely everything there is to see in Brazil, but yet we don’t have a clear tourism policy that has been developed and has been sustained that can be consistent with attracting tourists into the country.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/casino/land-based-casino-regulation/brazil-federal-police-land-based-casinos/
