SBC News

Brazil’s betting market is continuing to adjust to its grey-white transition, as are political overseers and major companies like YouTube which sit on the sidelines of gaming but are nonetheless affected by its developments.

Recent developments have seen marketing placed front-and-centre in politicians’ and tech firms’ agendas. Notably, YouTube will introduce strict new measures from 19 March which will block content related to illegal online gambling websites – though these policies are not isolated to Brazil, they do have a particular relevance to the developing market.

Luckily for the regulated industry, this lines up with its ambitions in the early days of the market. Speaking at the SBC Summit Rio last month, key stakeholders stated that addressing illegal gambling activity is a top priority.

“We need to fight illegal houses, something that really has an impact on our market. Once they are working illegally they hinder the way Brazilian people see our market,” Rafael Borges, CE..

Next week, the Senate of Brazil will review proposals made by the CPI of Integrity, a congressional inquiry, to ban instant bets and apply toughest punishment on sports corruption

Senator Romário (PL-RJ) and Senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) are ready to publish the first regulatory recommendations on the protections and integrity of the Brazil Bets market.

The recommendations form part of the Senate’s Commission of Inquiry chaired by Romário and Kajuru, who were tasked with examining the corruption and match-fixing liabilities threatening the integrity of the betting market.
Referred to as the CPI of Integrity, the senators are set to finish the investigation on Wednesday, 19 March. The duo have taken testimony from football authorities, club presidents, and members involved in former match-fixing scandals.

As such, next Wednesday the Senate will convene to read Romário and Kajuru’s report on “The Manipulation of Sports Games and Betting.” The proposed measures address structural vuln..

Spelinspektion, the Swedish gambling authority, has found GG.Bet to be in breach of Swedish gambling law.

After an investigation, the regulator found that when accessing the domain owned by ASG 360 Services Ltd from a Swedish-based IP address, the pre-selected currency was Swedish Krona (SEK).

Additional details around the investigation revealed that Swedish-based customers were in no way prevented from opening an account with ASG 360 Services. The company currently has no licence for the Swedish market.

Headquartered in Cyprus, the company also operates 20 additional domains that were listed by Spelinspektion. Some have been found to offer marketing in Swedish, the regulator further noted.

Sweden’s rulebook
The Swedish Gambling Act strictly prohibits any type of gambling targeting the Swedish market unless the necessary requirements – one of which is having a local license – are met.

It is within Spelinspektionen’s powers to request the ceasing of unregulated services with i..

Brazil’s betting market is continuing to adjust to its grey-white transition, as are political overseers and major companies like YouTube which sit on the sidelines of gaming but are nonetheless affected by its developments.

Recent developments have seen marketing placed front-and-centre in politicians’ and tech firms’ agendas. Notably, YouTube will introduce strict new measures from 19 March which will block content related to illegal online gambling websites – though these policies are not isolated to Brazil, they do have a particular relevance to the developing market.

Luckily for the regulated industry, this lines up with its ambitions in the early days of the market. Speaking at the SBC Summit Rio last month, key stakeholders stated that addressing illegal gambling activity is a top priority.

“We need to fight illegal houses, something that really has an impact on our market. Once they are working illegally they hinder the way Brazilian people see our market,” Rafael Borges, CE..

Denmark’s gambling authority, Spillemyndigheden, has urged operators to take notice of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) updated monitoring list.

The FATF is an international AML and CTF monitoring body that advises jurisdictions on action plans to combat criminal activity, and scrutinises those who fall behind. It was set up by the G7 group of countries, but its influence is felt globally.

Meanwhile, under Danish and EU gaming laws, licensees are required to perform enhanced customer due diligence (EDD) checks when there is cause for concern that a player has put an operator at risk of being misused for money laundering or terrorist financing.

One of these risk precursors is when a player is linked to a high-risk jurisdiction – such as one on the FATF’s ‘grey list’ or ‘black list’ of countries.

While the presence of a jurisdiction on the FATF’s monitoring list does not require an EDD check in and of itself, increased due diligence is mandatory when a country appears on the..

A Liberal Democrat peer has proposed changes to the Football Governance Bill targeting betting sponsorship in football, showing that the debate around the topic is far from over despite the regulatory developments of the past few years.

In a House of Lords debate on the bill this week, Lord Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington, who is also Vice President of the UK Sports Association, proposed four amendments to the legislation relating to betting sponsorships in football.

Lord Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington – Source: UK Parliament
“Certain sports such as horseracing tend to be dependent on gambling, but we have something of a surfeit of gambling advertising on our televisions: it is everywhere,” he said.

“In these amendments, I am suggesting that football might be one place we could do without it. The revenue might be very useful to the clubs involved, but we have already heard about the huge reach of football as a subject, and the fact that there is a huge demand for it. Can ..

Teun Struycken, the Dutch government minister responsible for betting regulation, has elaborated on the prospect of further restrictions around advertising amid public and political scrutiny on the topic.

Addressing MPs in the House of Representatives this week, Struycken, who serves as the Netherlands’ Legal Protections Secretary, stated that he will consider ‘whether further tightening of the rules is desirable’.

As it stands, Dutch betting firms are strictly prohibited from targeting people aged under 24 and from using ‘role models’ in advertising – these role models being athletes, celebrities and social media influencers, who have a stronger appeal to younger audiences.

From 1 July 2025 a ban on sports sponsorship will come into effect, similar to neighbouring Belgium. However, Dutch MPs appear alarmed at some instances of operators finding loopholes and ways around the ban in Belgium.

Struycken told MPs: “I cannot rule out that there are parties in the Netherlands that will t..

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has launched a ‘closed consultation’ to gather input from relevant stakeholders on proposed amendments to the financial reporting and disclosure of licensees.

The proposed amendments have been documented under the Gaming Authorisations and Compliance Directive (Directive 3 of 2018).

Feedback is required for the MGA to continue to strengthen its risk-based approach to regulating the financial conduct of licensees and to address uncertainties faced by the industry. The consultation will be open until 25 April 2025 as part of an initiative to enhance the MGA’s efficiency and regulatory effectiveness.

The Gaming Authorisations and Compliance Directive has proposed “enhanced reporting requirements” for licensees, who will be required to submit new monthly reports on ‘player funds’ and ‘managed accounts’ to the MGA.

Regarding financial reporting, the MGA seeks to apply a standardised framework requiring all licensees to submit their interim and annual sta..