The launch of Brazil’s forthcoming betting market must be safeguarded by a federal policy on gambling addiction to eliminate social harms, such as public debt.

This demand was issued by President Inácio Lula da Silva during ongoing meetings with senior ministers regarding the vulnerabilities of the betting regime, alongside discussions on a federal framework to regulate fixed-odds betting and online gambling in Brazil.

Last week, Lula held meetings with Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Ministers Rui Costa (Civil House), Fernando Haddad (Finance), Wellington Dias (Social Development and Assistance for Families), Nísia Trindade (Health), André Fufuca (Sports), and Ricardo Lewandowski (Justice).

The President expressed direct concerns over gambling addiction and the social harm caused by citizens accruing debt through gambling activities, which he identified as liabilities that must be addressed by the betting regime.

Lula’s concerns about public debt have been heightened by the rec..

Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, has revised the methodology for calculating the channelisation rate of Sweden’s online gambling marketplace.

Deemed the key measure of the regulatory balance in Sweden’s online gambling market, the channelisation rate represents the percentage of wagering volume accounted for by licensed operators.

Sanctioned as a regulatory assignment in 2023, the Inspectorate was commissioned by the government to redevelop the “calculation metrics for the channelisation of the Swedish gaming market.”

The assignment was to be reported on for the 2024 budget as part of a broader initiative to ensure that government authorities can monitor gambling trends and risks to national consumers.

As reported: “The Inspectorate believes that four different indicators together can give a picture of the degree of channelisation, and based on these indicators, the degree of channelisation for 2023 is calculated at 86%.”

The new channelisation rate was calculated..

President Inácio Lula da Silva will host a meeting of senior ministers to address outstanding concerns regarding the launch of the Bets regime, the federal framework to regulate fixed-odds betting and online gambling in Brazil.

The Ministers of Finance, Healthcare, Sports, Public Welfare, and Social Development will meet with Lula, today, to review the Bets regime’s progress towards its intended launch on 1 January 2025.

Lula seeks to address concerns following reports that beneficiaries of Bolsa Família, Brazil’s financial aid programme for poor families, had spent BRL 3bn (€500m) on betting platforms, with transactions recorded by the government’s Pix payment system.

An intervention is expected, as Lula will likely endorse the measure proposed by Febraban, the Federation of Brazilian Banks, which has called on authorities to adopt an instant ban on the use of credit cards and overdrafts for gambling transactions.

Furthermore, Lula will order the ministries to collaborate and deve..

The Dáil of Ireland has resumed ‘committee stage’ discussions on the Gambling Bill of Ireland (GRB), which will implement a new regulatory framework for Irish gambling.

Sanctioned in November 2022, the passage of the GRB has been stuck in the committee stage of the Dáil since July 2023. The tri-party government has set no timeline for the GRB’s ascension into law, despite mounting pressure from Irish legal authorities to settle on its determination.

Led by James Browne (Fianna Fáil), Minister of State for the Department of Justice, a committee at Oireachtas resumed discussions on the GRB and the articles that will replace the near-century-old Betting Act of 1931.

Ministers probed Browne on the applicability and technical provisions of the GRB applied into law, as the mandate to modernise Irish gambling and its governance of all gambling disciplines (retail, online, horse racing, and lotteries).

No Exemptions on Licensing

On licensing, Minister Browne stated there are “no broad exe..