Brazil's Ministry of Finance has put the blocking of illegal betting sites on automatic. More than 60 sites have been blocked since October last year. The process ran manually from January and now proceeds without operator involvement.
Asset freezes
Carlos Renato Resende, undersecretary for monitoring and enforcement at the ministry's prize and betting department, told a Chamber of Deputies hearing that measures to freeze the assets of illegal companies are being prepared. Affected players will be able to prove a claim to part of the frozen funds and get their money back. Where an operator cannot show a legal origin for the money, it goes to the National Public Security Fund.
The ministry is finalising regulations together with the National Financial System, with publication expected this month. The organised crime law introduced mechanisms against money laundering through betting.
Market share
A Locomotiva institute study puts the illegal market's share at 38–41%, down from 41–51%. The 11 percentage point fall is the first positive shift, though Brazil still trails. Ireland's illegal segment is 3%, Australia's 15%, Mexico's 20%. The survey covered 2,291 people across the country in May.
Resende warned the grey market cannot be fully eradicated anywhere. Fixed-odds betting has been legal in Brazil since 2018 under law 13.756/18, with extra controls introduced in 2023.
