European Gaming Lawyer magazine Autumn 2015 | Page 38

Mexico
The regulation of gambling in Mexico is a
matter regulated at a federal level, by the
Federal Gaming and Raffles Act (“FGRA”)
and its Regulations, which constitute the
main legal framework.
The FGRA – which has not been
substantially amended since it came
into force in 1948 – still upholds a quite
prohibitionist regime under which, as a
general rule, games of chance and gambling
are forbidden. However, the 2004 FGRA
Regulations introduced several exemptions
under which Mexican authorities may
authorize said activities in the terms therein.
In this sense, private enterprises
require authorization from the Ministry
of Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación)
to carry out any raffle, draw, gaming and/
or gambling activities within Mexican
territory. The authority has broad
discretionary powers regarding the
granting of said authorizations. Moreover,
the terms and conditions under which
the abovementioned authorizations are
granted – including the statutory share of
the licensed businesses’ earning to which the
Federal Government is entitled to – are also
determined by the Ministry of Interior.
It is important to point out that not every
gambling activity is allowed in Mexico.
Namely, slot machines and certain games of
chance such as black jack, poker and roulette
are not permitted by Mexican authorities;
still, in certain circumstances the electronic
versions of some of those games may be
exploited by licensed businesses.
Considering the above, in recent years
licensed businesses have been lobbying for
a more modern and flexible regulation. In
response, last year the low chamber of the
Federal Congress approved a bill (which
is at present going through the legislative
process) which, in general terms, provided:
•
Card games and slot machines
may be authorized under certain
limitations and only to enterprises
that fulfill specific requirements,
mainly regarding transparency and
safety standards for users;

38 | European Gaming Lawyer | Autumn Issue | 2015

•

•

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The current broad discretional powers
of the authority will be narrowed, in
order to provide a more attractive
environment for investors;
Licenses that permit gambling
activities in multiple locations will be
substituted for single-establishment
licenses;
The legal age for gambling will be set
at 21 years old; and,
Breaching the gambling regulations
will result in closure of the
establishment and/or a fine up to
200,000 minimum wages (approx. €
825.000).

As indicated, the bill is at present going
through the legislative process and has not
been yet approved by the Senate.
Brazil
Article 50 of the Decree-Law 3.688/1941
of Criminal Misdemeanors (Lei de
Contravenções Penais – LCP) expressly
forbids the establishment or exploitation
of games of chance, understood as (i)
those games in which winning or losing
depends exclusively or mainly on luck; (ii)
horseracing bets, when performed outside
hippodromes or any other place where
these type of bets are allowed; and (iii) bets
on any other sports competition. Breaches
to said article may result in imprisonment
(detenção) and fines.
Notwithstanding the above, it is worth
mentioning the special situation in Brazil
of some types of games, in particular bingo,
lottery and poker:
(i) Bingo: Law 9.981/2000 revoked
the legislation then regulating the
exploitation of bingos. Nevertheless,
due to inconsistencies in such law, many
establishments managed to continue
operating based on injunctions issued by
State courts. In 2007, the Brazilian Federal
Supreme Court issued a binding precedent
inhibiting those injunctions, which
resulted in the closure of all establishments

that exploited bingos within all Brazilian
territory.
(ii) Lottery: Lottery games are provided
as a public service by the Federal
Government. In particular, besides
other types of lottery, the Decree nº
66.118/1970 created the “sports lottery”
allowing prognostic contests related to the
results of sports competitions, other than
horseracing, to be rendered exclusively by
the Federal Unio