The firm CSMV Advogados played a key role in lobbying for the legalisation of sports betting in the country, and was received at least five times by former secretaries to discuss the new legislation. Their clients include 20 football clubs and a multinational company that collects and analyses data for bookmakers. 

When contacted, both said that they had received approval from the Presidency's Public Ethics Commission (CEP) to work as lawyers after leaving the Ministry of Finance. They did not, however, give the Commission any details about which office or area they would be working in. The Ministry of Finance said that the opinion to release them rests with the CEP, which said it can review the imposition of quarantine if 'new elements' emerge (more details below).

Former Assistant Secretary for Prizes and Sports Betting Simone Vicentini was announced on 17 June, two months after leaving the Ministry of Finance, as the new coordinator of the newly-structured betting and sports area of the CSMV Advogados law firm, based in São Paulo. She will work alongside lawyer José Francisco Manssur, who was announced as the law firm's new partner on 5 June, just over three months after leaving the ministry, where he held the position of special advisor to the Executive Secretariat, responsible for regulating the issue in Fernando Haddad's portfolio.

Manssur, who was in charge of the entire process of formalising and taxing so-called "bets" in the country, was the natural name to take over the new Prizes and Betting Secretariat, created last year. However, clashes in the operationalisation of the new area and disputes over interests in the position led to Manssur's dismissal at his request in January. The name to take over the new secretariat was only announced in April: lawyer Régis Dudena.

Both Manssur and Vicentini worked on the drafting, processing and approval of Law 14.790/2023, which initiated the regulation of fixed odds betting in Brazil, as well as the publication of Ordinance 827/2024, in May this year, which authorises the operation of bookmakers in the country.

Law No. 12,813 of 2013 classifies it as a conflict of interest when former high-ranking officials work, within six months of their dismissal, for companies that have established a "relevant relationship due to the exercise of their position or employment". Representatives of CSMV Advogados were received at least five times by Vicentini and Manssur when they were at the Treasury.

They were released by the commission from a six-month paid quarantine - applied to avoid conflicts of interest in the so-called "revolving door", when people in positions of trust leave the government to take up posts in private organisations operating in the same sector.

Before being released, however, none of them informed the agency that they would be working in the "bets" area of the law firm. They only said that they would work as lawyers, without submitting a formal proposal - as stated in the collegiate body's decision obtained by Estadão.

In this sense, the CEP saw no problem with the former secretaries acting as lawyers. The collegiate body advised, however, that they could not use privileged information, nor act in processes in which they had participated in the Ministry of Finance. Finally, it demanded that they must "immediately" inform the agency if they have received any proposals to carry out private activities. Compliance with these requirements, however, is not monitored by the commission, which is dependent on any complaints to take action.

Vicentini explained that, after being released from quarantine, she told CEP about CSMV Advogados' proposal. "We have to pay our bills and work. They (the Public Ethics Commission) have already analysed the fact that I can work in a law firm, I just can't use privileged information," she said.

Manssur, for his part, said that he had consulted an advisor from the body, informally, to find out if he needed to inform the collegiate body. "I was informed that there was no such need. But, in principle, I had already informed her that I am a sports law lawyer - and the area of bets is one of the areas of sports law. Do you expect me to be out of work for the rest of my life?" he asked. In the Ethics Commission's decision, obtained by Estadão, there is no mention of sports law.

In the adverts for Vicentini and Manssur, the CSMV Advogados law firm highlighted their work in regulating betting in the country.

"Among the various rules regulating online betting that (Vicentini) coordinated, we highlight the authorisation of certifying bodies for online betting systems, live and online gaming studios, the discipline of payment transactions and the establishment of the sector's Regulatory Policy," the law firm wrote on the 17th about Vicentini.

"During this period, it also finalised and sent to the Attorney General's Office (PGFN) the drafts of the other ordinances that make up Phase 1 of the Regulatory Agenda of the SPA (Secretariat for Prizes and Sports Betting)," he added.

As deputy secretary, Vicentini received CSMV Advogados in her office once, on 22 March this year, to discuss the regulation of sports betting, according to her public agenda. The law firm represented Sportradar, a Swiss-based company that works with sports data for bookmakers, sports federations and media companies. As coordinator, she met with the office at least twice more. The number of hearings could be higher, since the coordinator's diary is not public.

Manssur had four meetings with representatives from CSMV Advogados between June and December 2023. The data was collected from Agenda Transparente, a tool for monitoring public meetings developed by the NGO Fiquem Sabendo. In addition to Sportradar, the law firm represented Palmeiras last October at a meeting on sports betting with ten clubs from the first division of the Brazilian football league. The lawyer was a special advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance from 27 January 2023 to 23 February 2024, with a salary of R$14,849.50.

"In his more than 25 years of experience, Manssur was one of the authors of the bill that created the Sociedade Anônima do Futebol (SAF) and took part in the Ministry of Sport's Working Group responsible for drafting the Estatuto do Torcedor (Fan Statute). More recently, he was at the forefront of drawing up the rules for the fixed-odds betting sector in Brazil, which culminated in the sanctioning of Law 14.790/23, which regulated sports betting and online gaming in Brazil," the law firm wrote in a post on Instagram.

In another post, based on an article published in a legal magazine, the law firm pointed out that the betting sector is expected to grow after Law 14.790 came into force in December last year.

In a statement, the Ministry of Finance said that the Public Ethics Commission of the Presidency of the Republic had given its opinion that there is no conflict of interest that would prevent the two from acting professionally.

The Public Ethics Commission confirmed that it had only been officially informed by Simone Vicentini. "She added that she will strictly obey the conditions of our decision," explained the president of the collegiate body, Manoel Caetano Ferreira Filho. "Manssur has not done anything officially," he added. The lawyer added that the collegiate body may re-discuss the quarantine if new elements emerge.

The law firm CSMV Advogados said that it had made a statement through its partner Manssur.