Wire SOUTH AMERICA
Te bill was the widest expansion bill on the table authorising the street lottery, casinos, bingo halls, online gambling and betting nationwide.
BRAZIL LEGISLATION Expansive Gaming Bill Falls by the Wayside
A Bill that would have allowed for casinos in integrated resorts has been shelved. In all, 35 resort casinos would have been permitted with at least one per state.
Colombia – New Coljuegos President imminent There is growing speculation that a former councillor of Bogotá, Roger Carrillo, has been slated to be the new president of Coljuegos. Once in office he will be responsible for managing more than $500bn in government transfers to the health service. Although not yet official, Roger Carrillo’s appointment will be controversial as he was recently caught up in the middle of a political scandal for an alleged case of impersonation.
According to local press it is alleged that he posed as another politician called Roberto Pérez, who was a competitor for the same post. Press reports say that Carrillo pretended to be Pérez and criticised the government in an alleged effort to get him out of the way in the fight for the position. The news comes as the board published its latest online figures. According to Coljuegos, 2023 is projected to be another good year for the online gambling industry.
Uruguay – Delays over new casino in Carmelo Talking with local radio, the undersecretary of Tourism, Remo Monzeglio, has criticised the continued delays over the granting of a casino licence in the city of Carmelo located in south-western Uruguay. Monzeglio described the process thus far as “tragicomic.”
“It has been one obstacle after another,” Monzeglio said, and commented that he had decided “not to go to Carmelo anymore for this issue”, because he believed that those living there had to, “ask themselves if they really want to move forward” with the project.
The government announced that it would tender the Casino Carmelo in Colonia del Sacramento at the end of July as a five-star hotel and casino. The new owners would renovate the state owned property into a five star hotel in return for the license to operate a casino on the premises. However, local lawmakers have raised concerns over its impact on wildlife and the site has been declared as a local heritage site by the local municipality.
In addition, there is increasing speculation that the tender has been delayed due to the upcoming debate over Uruguay’s online gambling laws. In November 2021, Uruguay’s Executive branch sent a bill to the senate that would permit both state run and privately run casinos to offer online casino games. The bill, signed by President Lacalle Pou, would give the General Directorate of Casinos of the Ministry of Economy and Finance authority to run online casino games, and gives the Executive branch permission to authorise private companies that already operate casinos as well as future licence holder’s permission to offer online casino games.
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A pro gambling bill in Brazil put forward several years ago has been shelved due to lack of support. Bill 186/14 has not been addressed by the senate for four years meaning that it has been archived for good. Te chances of it being brought back into play are slim at best as a third of the senate would have to file a request for its return in less than two months and this request would have to be approved by the plenary. Tis is highly unlikely given the number of evangelicals currently in the senate plus the wide scope of the bill.
Senate Bill No. 186/2014 would have allowed for casinos in integrated resorts. In all, 35 resort casinos would be permitted with at least one per state while some states would be permitted to have as many as three. Te bill was arguably the widest gaming expansion bill on the table as it would have authorised the popular street lottery “the animal game”, casinos, bingo halls, online gambling and betting nationwide. However, slot machines outside of casinos were not covered in the bill.
Bill No. 186/2014 was put forward by Senator Ciro Nogueira in 2014. Nogueira is the president of the Progressistas a centre-right to right-wing political party. Nogueira was the Chief of Staff of the Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro from August 2021 to December 2022. His bill was rejected in December 2016 with senators voting 44 votes in favour and 19 against with senators voting that it be returned for further analysis. A committee ultimately rejected the bill in March 2018 arguing that it could encourage criminal practices.
Among the other gambling laws still up for debate in the senate is another bill – Bill 4495/2020 that would allow for integrated resorts only. However the bill which has the highest chance of at least getting a hearing is still Bill 442/1991(PL 442/91) approved by the Chamber of Deputies in February last year, and now pending approval in the Senate. If approved, it will replace as many as 20 other gambling related projects all of which have been discussed over many years.
Chile TV execs warned that online gambling is illegal
Te Chilean Gaming Control Board (SCJ) has warned the executive directors of four television channels in Chile to stop the advertising of online gambling as it is illegal.
According to the Diario Financiero, the letter was sent to the directors of Channel 13 , TVN , CHV and Mega , and alluded to commercials from firms such as Betway, Betsson and JackpotCity , which according to the entity was “illegal. ” Te television executives received the letters in December but the news was only confirmed this month. Te letters were signed by the Head of the Chilean Gaming Control Board, Vivien Villagrán Acuña.
According to the head of the SJC, only lottery games operated by Polla Chilena de Beneficencia SA, the Lotería de Concepción SA, racetracks and casinos are permitted. Within the regulatory framework, other companies were not permitted to offer online
gambling in Chile, “since they do not have an express legal norm that enables them to do so.”
Te letter went onto say that up until December 2022, the SJC had filed as many as 37 complaints with the Public Ministry related to a total of 33 online betting platforms. Te letter stated that in May and September 2021 the SJC had already informed the Council for Self-Regulation and Advertising Ethics (Conar) and the National Association of Professional Football (ANFP), to “inform them regarding the illegal nature of the exploitation of online gambling in our country”.
Due to the above, Villagrán finished by saying that “it would be logical to conclude that any promotional and publicity activity should not occur, even though there is no express prohibition.” Te executive branch of the government is expected to push forward with the regulation of online gambling in March.
Argentina
According to the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos, the emblematic Casino Central in Mar del Plata is experiencing an “excellent” summer season with visitor numbers on the rise with around 10,000 people visiting the casino daily generating more than $60m on roulette and card games alone.
“We are very happy with the activity that the casino has shown and with the season in general. It has exceeded all expectations, it has been an excellent season . . .” the Provincial Institute of Lottery and Casinos’ Omar Galdurralde, told local news outlet La Capital.
Galdurralde stated that during weekends in January visitor numbers reached as many as 14,000 people. Roberto Páez agreed with Galdurralde saying that the sector had “a very good January” and added that “so far it is a very good season . . . better than before. We calculate that we are experiencing between 30
per cent and 40 per cent more activity than last year.”
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