The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) in Brazil has joined the National Strategy to Combat Corruption and Money Laundering (ENNCLA) to help drive anti-corruption efforts in the country.
The SPA, which sits within the ministry of finance, is tasked with regulating, authorising and monitoring the country’s betting market, with the legal sector set to go live on 1 January 2025.
One of the SPA’s objectives is to ensure betting operators comply with Law No 9,613/2018 covering anti-money laundering and terrorism financing.
Today (11 November), the SPA announced it will now participate as a full member of ENNCLA, the main Brazilian institutional body that forms public policies to counter corruption and money laundering within the country.
ENNCLA has been involved in the formation of 90 public laws established in the executive branch of the federal government, as well as the legislative and judiciary levels and the public ministry.
AML regulations in Brazil
Normative Ordinance No 1,143, published in July, ordered operators seeking a licence to comply with new anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.
The ordinance, based on international guidelines surrounding topics such as AML and counter-terrorism financing (CTF), says betting agents must adopt policies for the identification and classification of the risk of customers looking to register.
Companies are also required to do the same for their employees and suppliers.
There are also criteria that establish the level of suspicion needed for a transaction to be reported to Brazil’s Financial Intelligence Unit (COAF).
Additionally, operators must verify the status of any politically exposed person (PEP) and their close associates.
Trisigma approved as certifying entity in Brazil
Also today, the SPA announced the Dutch software testing agency Trisigma BV had joined the list of entities certified to approve betting platforms and online games in Brazil.
Normative Ordinance No 1,775, dated 8 November, noted that Trisigma will be approved to certify companies’ activities for at least the next three years.
Trisigma joins Gaming Laboratories International (GLI), eCogra Limited, BMM Spain Testlabs, Gaming Associates Europe and Quinel as the entities authorised by the ministry of finance to certify fixed-odds betting operators.
“The obligation to certify betting platforms, online games and the integrations of the former with different suppliers is part of the federal government’s strategy to guarantee a safer market for Brazilian bettors, through the continuous assessment of the compliance of operating agents with the operating rules of the regulated fixed-odds betting market,” the SPA said.
