SAGSE Talks Brasil analyzed yesterday the growth of the online market and the opening of sportsbooks. It was held the first event of this kind in Portuguese, with a panel of regulators, specialists and top-level companies with presence in Brazil.

Among others, SAGSE Talks counted with the global sponsorship of Play'N GO, the sponsorship of Latamwin and the participation of Karen Sierra, GLI Director de Govenment Relations and Business Development for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Participants: Altair Mendanha (General Coordinator of Lotteries), Bruno Omori (IDT-CEMA), Luiz Felipe Maia (FYMSA Advogados), JD Duarte (Betcris), Peter Nolte (Salsa Technology), Karen Sierra-Hughes (GLI), Maghno Jose (Instituto of Legal Gaming) and Alan Burak (SAGSE). Moderator: Maghno Jose (President of the Brazilian Legal Gaming Institute and editor of  BNL Magocom).

The main gaming regulation issues treated were:
-Money laundering and gambling problems.
-Conditions for legal gaming.
-Technological solutions for operators.

Karen Sierra talked about the regulatory control process: "This process includes different parts of the regulation, not only the technical part, but also the legal and financial part, especially for money laundering. In our countries, when we talk about gambling regulation, the first arguments against are: money laundering, responsible gambling. It seeks to protect players, guarantee fair play, reduce the risk of laundering. Background research is essential, and we see it in Puerto Rico, in Chile. All money laundering prevention standards exist. It is important to understand that our industry has peculiarities, and the gaming regulator must work on that. It is important to determine where companies' funds come from, and their ability to keep up over time."

Maghno Jose then consulted her about the certification standards and the differences between online and traditional gaming.

Karen Sierra: "From the point of view of certification standards, the regulator must take into account the identification of the player. This is an issue that must be in the regulation. In the online part, the issue is in the development of the platform and how the regulator will establish it. It is a name, address and a series of data that give the security to the regulator and the operator that it really is that person. In the face-to-face game, the procedures are of minimum internal controls to be able to identify the person in the betting room or agency. It all depends on the technology that the operator implements."

"There are prohibitions that are already established internationally. For example, each player may have only one account. It is also prohibited to transfer money between players. The player's account must be used to play, and not as a bank account. The operator must make specific and necessary certification reports available to the regulator. How much the player spends, how much he withdraws and deposits, etc. With all this, the regulator can analyze compliance with the requirements, "she concluded.