The Ministry of Finance of Brazil has announced that 68 companies have successfully completed the application process for obtaining full licenses to launch the Brazil Bets market, which officially started on January 1, 2025.
This update comes within the last 24 hours before the new betting regime takes effect, introducing a federal system for regulating online gambling and sports betting in the country starting in 2025.
Referring to SIGAP, the platform for managing data and coordinating licenses within the betting system, the ministry clarified that 70 license applications have been approved.
Additionally, the Ministry reported that since the application period for the betting market ended on September 30, 150 applications from 145 companies had been submitted to SIGAP.
As stands, 68 businesses have completed full authorisations, which include fulfilling the upfront payment of a R$30 million ($5,350,000) concession fee to secure their Bets licenses. The payment of concession fees alone will allow the Ministry to collect over R$2.1 billion (approximately $406,600,000) in fixed income from the Bets regime before its launch.
The licensing process for the Bets regime was overseen by the Secretariat for Prizes and Betting (SPA). Qualified businesses were required to undergo a four-stage review process to ensure compliance with key requirements such as IT security protocols, licensing standards, payment processing, anti-money laundering (AML) measures, gaming regulations, and responsible gambling practices.
On December 12, the SPA announced that it had initiated its final procedure to issue Bets license authorisations for 71 “qualified businesses,” which were given a 30-day window to complete final steps, including the payment of concession fees.
The 68 businesses that have received full authorisations will operate a total of 300 unique brands (though not all brands have been disclosed). International operators and brands listed include Betfair (Flutter Entertainment), bet365, Stake.com, and Entain Plc’s brands Betboo and SportingBet.
Final orders issued by the SPA required licensed businesses to register their payment and auditing systems with the Financial Activities Control System (Siscoaf) to comply with anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorism financing (CTF), and ‘prevention of weapons proliferation measures’.
All licensed operators must request Siscoaf authorisation within 10 days of the official publication to allow their betting platforms to process Bets transactions with Brazilian consumers.
Operators must report any non-occurrence of ML/FTP activities to the SPA by the last business day of January following the year of occurrence. The document, signed by SPA President Regis Dudena, came into force on December 30, 2024.
As previously cited, Dudena reiterated the SPA’s mandate that all licensees must demonstrate full compliance with Bets’ market rules from day one, concluding: “Starting January 1, all companies operating in Brazil will need to be Brazilian entities established under Brazilian law. We’ll know their shareholders, ultimate beneficiaries, and executives, ensuring complete oversight of both legal entities and individuals involved in this activity.”
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