GAT Expo Cartagena 2025: Key points from the conference on gambling regulation in Latin America

Georges Didier,  Latin America Regional Director at  Gaming Labs International (GLI), began his presentation on the panel “Latin American Regulatory Overview at GAT Expo Cartagena 2025” by explaining that the aim of the panel is “ to offer an overview of other jurisdictions, apart from Colombia and Puerto Rico, on how they approach the issue of online gaming in sports surveys, in regulations, and to describe the characteristics they have now.”

Here's a brief country-by-country review on the gambling legislation Didier mentioned:

 Brazil

 "I'll start with Brazil because it's obviously the latest jurisdiction to have gone through the regulatory process and begun operations. This is the general framework of what Brazil is: a population of 220 million, 26 states, plus the Federal District, with an internet penetration of 86.6%, making it a very attractive market, and there are different types of licenses for both online gaming and sports polling," Didier explained.

 He then listed that “There is a license that is the state one that is managed by the Secretariat of the Survey Prize, which are the regulators that have basically published the regulations and ordinances under that type of licenses and there are currently 82 operators, then there are the state licenses that each of the states of Brazil has and gives it the ability to sign its own lottery and establish the processes to be able to have a license or an operating authorization and then there are also the municipal ones that also have the same modality as the state one basically.” 

The conclusion regarding the Brazilian market is that it is a regulation that, while aligned with the industry, has some specific points that are not difficult to understand but that differentiate it from other countries in the region.

 Peru

Regarding Peru, Didier highlighted two types of licenses, for remote gaming and sports betting. He said:"although a company can apply for both, it must have one and it is not that one alone allows it to cover both operations. To date, there are 108 licenses granted and we are talking about around 65 companies that are operating in the gaming sector."

He also explained that "these regulations were issued by the General Directorate of International Games for the Peruvian Guard, and since last year they have been working with various operators and suppliers to advance this industry, which has been around for quite some time in Peru."

Another important point that Didier pointed out is that "unlike Brazil, Peru does not charge a tax on revenue, but operators do have to pay a test, which is a tax levied on each license they want to operate. If they want a remote gaming slot license, they have to pay one amount, and if they want a sports betting license, they have to pay another amount through a recently established gambling tax policy, which is the selective consumption tax."

 Paraguay

“Paraguay currently has operations with different licenses that are being provided, for example in the case of sports betting previously only one was allowed and it was under tender, but there is a new law that was passed at the beginning of this year in which different types of games that can be exploited are expanded and that can be given in different ways in different areas, both at the national and municipal level and that is the new law in January 3, 748. The regulator has always been the Cornajzar but before it belonged to the Ministry of Finance and now they have transferred it to be part of the social public institutions”

 Argentina

Didier spoke about the situation in the city of Buenos Aires, the province of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Mendoza. Regarding the relationship between the province and the city of Buenos Aires, for example, he explained that "LOTBA regulates the city of Buenos Aires, which has a smaller population than the province of Buenos Aires, which has the most operators. It's an open market of competition between operators. In addition, there are many citizens who travel mainly from the province to the city at certain times."

 Chile

 Finally, Didier addressed Chilean regulations and explained that "Chile has a bill that is being worked on, but it still needs to be finalized and approved.

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