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During a lengthy hearing, Enjoy’s lawyer, Santiago Bravo, strongly denied that the operator colluded with any other company during the tender.
CHILE OPERATOR NEWS Enjoy and Dreams Deny Collusion
Lawyers for Enjoy and Dreams have appeared before the Tribunal for the Defence of Free Competition to deny collusion.
Ecuador - Government proposes tax reform The government of Ecuador has put forward a tax reform project that proposes creating a single tax on the income received by sports betting operators with legal residence in the country. The bill was put forward by Finance Minister Pablo Arosemena to the National Assembly and proposes a 15 per cent tax on GGR on operators. In addition, operators will be responsible for imposing a 15 per cent withholding tax on player winnings.
According to the justification for the bill, at least 23 betting and forecasting sites operate in Ecuador, and companies and individuals related to sports betting activities that operate through digital platforms have been identified by the government. At the same time, there are also more than a dozen platforms that advertise their services during sporting events without having a physical presence in Ecuador but offer their services from abroad.
The reforms are part of a much wider tax reform bill that includes tax cuts for most families. It will have a fiscal cost of $195m, President Guillermo Lasso said during a presentation of the bill at the presidential palace in Quito. The new tax reform bill is part of an urgent economic project that must be analysed by the country’s congress and processed within a maximum period of thirty days from its receipt, as established by the Constitution of Ecuador.
“This law is urgent because it is about injecting money in the shortest possible time to families and, in turn, to the national economy,” President Lasso said.
Since former banker and centre-right politician Guillermo Lasso was sworn into office in May 2021 there have been signs that the government could begin to liberalise the industry. Lasso’s election means an end to many years of successive left wing governments with promises to kick-start the economy by attracting increased foreign investment.
Colombia - Coljuegos president resigns The President of Coljuegos, Roger Carrillo, has resigned. The position has been temporarily filled by Sammy Libos Zúñiga – who serves in the Ministry of Finance. Roger Carrillo had been appointed director of Coljuegos through Decree 0288 of 2023 issued by the Ministry of Finance on March 3, having been in post for just over two months. Carrillo was nominated for this position by the president of the Conservative Party, Efraín Cepeda.
In February, President Gustavo Petro presented a controversial health reform to lawmakers to improve primary care, expand access to treatment, raise healthcare worker salaries and fight corruption.
P8 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Lawyers for Enjoy and Dreams have appeared before the Tribunal for the Defence of Free Competition in order to respond to a complaint put forward by casino operator Grupo Meier (Corporación Meier).
In a hearing which lasted for approximately three hours Enjoy’s lawyer Santiago Bravo strongly denied that the operator had colluded with any other company during the tender. “Enjoy has not participated in any collusive agreement with other actors,” he said. Te representative of Dreams meanwhile outlined the financial difficulties the company had faced during the casino tender and the pandemic.
Dreams put forward a detailed analysis of the context in which the last bidding process had taken place. According to lawyer Diego Ramos, representing Dreams, the terms of the tender had affected competition, making it difficult to apply for new or additional licences. In addition the company had experienced additional pressure due to the pandemic and regulatory uncertainty at the time.
Ramos said Dreams had had to make “a huge effort to obtain financing sources to be able to grant economic offers” that had been laid out by the gaming board SJC. Tis in turn had made it necessary for Dreams to have “to enter into difficult negotiations with various financial institutions.” Ramos categorised the terms as excessive adding that these conditions remain in place today.
Last year, the Peruvian operator, which is the current licence holder for the casino located in Talca and owns a share of the Puerto Natales Casino, denounced a series of alleged irregularities regarding the bidding rules for the last two public tenders carried out by the gaming board.
According to company lawyers, the licensing process, facilitated collusion and the continued dominance of local and already established operators in the market. Grupo Meier complained to the Superintendence of Gaming Casinos demanding the last tender involving Dreams, Enjoy and Marina del Sol be revoked.
Brazil Match fixing inquiry to hear testimonies
Te Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) into match fixing has announced that they will hear testimony from those responsible for the Maximum Penalty Operation, from the Public Prosecution Service of Goiás.
According to the Brazilian Senate News Agency invitation requests to prosecutor Fernando Cesconetto and attorney general Cyro Terra Peres were both approved and they should both be heard in a public hearing next week.
Launched in early April, the task force in Goiás has already denounced 16 people for manipulating the results of 13 football matches. Te commission will listen to police officer Hugo Jorge Bravo, and president of Vila Nova Futebol club, who denounced cases of match-fixing committed within his own club which led to the operation in the first place. Te committee will be granted access to the status of
other ongoing investigations. Deputy Ricardo Silva highlighted the importance of investigating the origin of funding for agreements between athletes and gamblers, which had the objective of manipulating the results of matches.
“We need to move on to the origin of the money, because we have an ongoing investigation by the Public Ministry, but we will have a deeper mission to reach the big fish, to prove who is financing this,” he said. Te rapporteur of the CPI, Deputy Felipe Carreras, stated that the work of the CPI is not limited to what has been verified by the Prosecution Service of Goiás
“Te investigations are not limited to what has already been found and the ongoing police investigations. Tis means that other athletes and bettors not yet mentioned can be reached, such as club officials and other sports professionals,” he added.
Peru
Te Peruvian Congress has approved Bill 3595/2022, a substitute text that modifies the regulation of gambling and online betting, with 105 votes in favour and two abstentions.
Bill 3595/2022 modifies Law 31557, which was signed by the President of Peru Pedro Castillo last year, putting the newly regulated industry under the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR).
However, Congresswoman, Lady Camones, put forward changes to the law so that it would encompass not just operators with a legal presence in Peru but also those operating from abroad.
Te modifications clarify certain terms of the bill, sets certain set limits on the space between gambling establishments, schools and religious centres, expands the scope of taxes, and puts in place AML and stricter protection measures.
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