Te policy is expected to be drafted this year. Once completed, it will be submitted to Congress for feedback, approval, and adoption.
COLOMBIA LEGISLATION First Public Policy on Responsible Gambling
Coljuegos is creating a public policy on responsible gambling with guidelines aimed at prevention, education, and treatment for physical and mental health.
In order to promote informed decision-making among players in the country, Coljuegos is advancing the structuring of a public policy on responsible gambling, the first of its kind in Latin America. According to the President of Coljuegos, Marco Emilio Hincapié, the objective is to foster a culture of responsible betting and raise awareness among players about the risks associated with problem gambling.
"From the entity, we have led different working groups with operators to define guidelines that allow us, on the one hand, to raise awareness about the possible negative effects of compulsive gambling, and, on the other hand, to implement measures such as betting limits, warning messages, and self-exclusion tools. Fortunately, we have found full willingness on the part of the operators. Te common purpose is to protect consumers, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as young people and people with gambling addiction problems."
Te announcement was made during the commemoration of World Responsible
Gambling Day, an event that featured the participation of Mariela Huenchumilla Fritz, founding member of the International Alliance for Responsible Gambling and Corporate Manager of Responsible Gambling for the Sun Dreams Latam casinos, based in Chile.
Evert Montero Cárdenas, president of the Colombian Federation of Entrepreneurs of Games of Chance and Luck; Juan Carlos Restrepo, president of Asojuegos; and Elizabeth Maya Cano, president of the National Corporation of Entrepreneurs of Games of Chance and Luck participated in the meeting.
It is expected that during 2024 Coljuegos and the guilds will finish drafting the document, which will include guidelines with a public health approach, aimed at emphasising prevention, education, and treatment for those who experience negative consequences for physical and mental health due to gambling. Once completed, the document will be submitted for discussion Congress for respective feedback, approval, and adoption.
Uruguay
Paraguay Local governments fail to comply with slot ban
Lorena Rojas, President of Te Association of Gaming Operators (APOJA), has come out against a number of local governments for not enforcing the slot ban in Paraguay.
"Te law is not a dead letter (ineffective). What actually exists are complacent authorities and privileged operators, because in Encarnación there are no machines on the streets, and in Limpio, their regulations were updated, but this is not the case in the vast majority of municipalities in the country," she said.
Her statement comes after the president of Paraguay Santiago Peña signed a decree which prohibits slot machines in locations not dedicated exclusively to gambling in January. Slots are no longer permitted in bars, grocery stores, bars, bakeries as well as other establishments. Te main objective of the bill is to
prevent minors from gambling and eradicate street gambling. All municipalities in the country were given until January 27th to ensure that slots were off the streets.
In April 2022, President Mario Abdo Benítez enacted the law after the measure had been approved in the Senate at the end of March. Although it had already been passed certain aspects of the law were missing. President Peña’s decree means that the law is now in force and the respective controls can now be carried out by the municipal governments and the board.
For Rojas, the authorities are acting as accomplices because they are preventing the control of the money circulating in slots, and also allowing for tax evasion and money laundering. "We are gathering reports and will file serious and responsible complaints," she said.
In the company of the mayor of the Maldonado department, Enrique Antía, developer Giuseppe Cipriani toured the works of the future San Rafael hotel and casino on Brava Beach in Punta del Este.
Both the municipal chief and the investor said that they were optimistic regarding the building works, reaffirming that the opening date for the hotel and casino remains set for November 2025. More than 200 workers are engaged in the construction, the garages are already planned, and according to developers some floors of the structure will start to be visible soon.
"It's a reality that is unstoppable," said Antía. For his part, Cipriani assured that "they will work double shifts to make up for lost time." After several years of setbacks, changes in plans and investors, work began on the iconic San Rafael hotel in January 2023 after the department of Maldonado gave the final go-ahead to the project.
Mourão expressed concern about the proliferation of websites offering gambling and the problems caused to citizens. "The widespread availability of these easily accessible games on the internet has led individuals and families to growing financial problems," he said. The senator highlighted the health disorders caused in individuals who take part in sports betting, arguing that “it has caused a dangerous explosion of pathological conditions associated with ludopathy, which is the medical condition to characterise a person's compulsion for gambling.”
The senator included an amendment suppressing an article that provides for the regulation of the subject by the National Monetary Council (CMN), which, in his view, could raise questions about the constitutionality of the project.
Panama - $2.5bn gambled in ten months According to information published by the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC), Panamanians gambled US$2.5bn between January and October 2023 on gambling and the lottery marking a 12 per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous year.
Panamanians gambled US$1,864m via casinos, bingos, online betting, horse racing and sporting betting while US$651.5m was bet via the National Charity Lottery. According to the entity's report, bets on type A slot machines (slots in fully fledged casinos) reached USD1.527bn - 81.96 per cent of the total gambling market.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P9
Brazil - Committee approves payments ban The Communication and Digital Rights Committee has approved PL 3,403/2023 which prohibits payments over the internet for games considered illegal in Brazil. The project proposed by Senator Eduardo Girão received a favourable opinion from Senator Hamilton Mourão and will now go before the Committee on Economic Affairs for analysis.
According to the Brazilian Senate, the proposal assigns to financial institutions and payment companies the responsibility to adopt procedures to identify and prevent these transactions.
The proposal includes as prohibited means of payment debit and credit cards, PIX, and electronic transfer available (TED), on sites inside or outside Brazil. PIX is a payment method introduced by the Central Bank of Brazil in November 2020. It allows for instant money transfers between individuals and businesses using mobile devices, internet banking, or ATMs. Available Electronic Transfer is a type of electronic funds transfer widely used in Brazil that enables individuals and businesses to move money between bank accounts held at different financial institutions.
Wire SOUTH AMERICA
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