In December the legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires authorised online gambling. The local government expects to raise $500m through the new initiative. The law was passed by 34 votes in favour and 22 against. The new bill allows for online sports betting and online casino. In the same month the Legislature of the province of Buenos Aires approved laws that permit online gaming throughout the province.
debt payments to meet the demands of the IMF bailout.
In order to raise money the governor of the Province of Buenos Aires María Eugenia Vidal and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta the mayor of City have both pushed through online gaming laws in their respective jurisdictions.
In December, the legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires authorised online gambling. Te local government expects to raise $500m through the new initiative. Te law was passed by 34 votes in favour and 22 against. Te new bill allows for online sports betting and online casino. In the same month the Legislature of the province of Buenos Aires approved laws that permit online gaming throughout the province. Te initiative was included in the 2019 Budget and the Tax Law put before the Legislature by Governor Vidal.
Te province of Buenos Aires was the first to officially put new rules in place. According to the Official Gazette of the province of Buenos Aires the province will grant up to seven licenses in all. Only one licence will be granted per operator. Te operator may be either based in the province of Buenos Aires or be a foreign legal entity (legally registered to operate in the province) and will be permitted to advertise its offer (with certain restrictions in place). Te government will set up a commission that will be responsible for granting the licences and will take into account 20 minimum requirements, including the financial background, technical know how as well as data security measures, and the number of events and sports the potential licensee plans to offer. Te player must be located in the province while making a bet online according to the new law.
Te companies that operate online gaming in the province must pay 15 percent of gross income, eight per cent in the form of a specific tax on online gaming as well as a two per cent fee. Te newly regulated industry will be run by the
provincial Executive Power, through the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos (IPLyC).
International interest in the new licences has been high. In June the government announced that seven operators had put forward bids in order to offer online gambling in the province with more likely to follow before the deadline lapses on June 25.
Crucially a number of international companies have teamed up with local partners in order to take part. Atlantica de Juegos has put forward a proposal with Stars Interactive. ArgenBingo are working with William Hill. Bingo Pilar with PPB Counter Party Services (Flutter Entertainment, the operator formerly known as Paddy Power Betfair). While local operator BinBaires is teaming up with Intralot. Meanwhile, Hotel Casino Tandil-Dynamo Tyche is making a move into the market with Playtech Software Limited. However two local operators: Biyemas and Slots Machines have opted to take part without a foreign partner.
A similar licensing model has been put into place in the city of Buenos Aires. At the end of May the Legislature of the City of Buenos Aires approved the final regulation of online gambling, which specifies that the Lottery of the City of Buenos Aires (LOTBA) will be the supervisory body over the industry.
Resolution No. 80/19, put forward by LOTBA, was endorsed with the votes of the ruling bloc and the rejection of other parties, winning 34 votes in favour from the ruling party and 26 negative votes from other parties. Te regulation covers “all online games of chance and / or skill, sports betting, virtual games and non-sporting events, made through the use of machines, instruments or supports, or any type or technology.” Tis includes online casino and sports betting.
However, the tender for the new licences in the city of Buenos Aires has not yet been launched.
Insight
LATAM ONLINE Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia still continues to lag behind both in the land- based gaming space as well as online. Te gaming industry in Bolivia is still largely unregulated with illegal gaming widespread. Tere are currently no laws in place when it comes to online gambling
In October 2016, Bolivia’s Authority of Taxation and Social Control over Gaming (AJ), announced that new rules to control online gaming were needed, but no action was taken.
In July 2018, an investigation carried out by the AJ revealed that players in Bolivia use at least seven online casinos operated by web pages hosted outside the country. According to the study, between 2013 and 2017, $b2.6m was gambled via offshore betting sites. Te report advises “establishing a responsible legal framework” to regulate online activity in Bolivia, so that it more closely reflected the current gambling landscape.
According to the study the most visited online casino websites are Casino Estrella, Slots Magic, Bet 365, Exbet, BWIN, and Fortuna Juegos. All of these are illegal, since there is no legislation for online gaming in place. By analysing the transactions of the credit cards used, the regulator
concluded that online gambling has been steadily increasing between 2013 and 2017.
From 2011 to August 2017, 1,413 government interventions were carried out on illegal gambling websites in Bolivia. In addition, the report found it important to note the high number of Internet searches “related to online gambling, which shows that the Bolivian population is interested in pages that allow them to bet and play virtually, whether via online casinos or through sports betting.”
Te study recommended the “establishment of a responsible legal framework” to regulate online gambling in order to more accurately reflect the gambling landscape in Bolivia “especially after the development the sector has experienced since 2011 with the growth of unlicensed companies which offer (casino) games and also online bets.” However it is unlikely that any real change to the online gambling market will happen anytime soon.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P43
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