Brazil Gives SPA Power to Freeze Illegal Operator Accounts
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed a decree on June 19 that formally assigns the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA) authority over the illegal betting market, closing a gap that had left financial flows from unlicensed operators without a clear enforcement authority. Before the decree, neither SPA nor the Central Bank had a defined mandate to act, according to SPA deputy secretary Fabio Macorin.
Banks Face Immediate Blocking Duties
The decree creates a direct enforcement chain. Once SPA identifies a financial institution that receives funds from an unlicensed operator, it notifies that institution, the Central Bank, and Receita Federal. The institution must immediately freeze the funds in the irregular operator’s account. Blocked revenue goes to the National Public Security Fund, linked to the Ministry of Justice.
Non-compliant payment firms face a harder consequence. If a bank or payment institution ignores SPA’s order, Receita Federal can make that institution jointly liable for the taxes the unlicensed operator should have paid. The decree also requires retroactive tax payments on illegal betting activity.
What Makes an Operator Illegal
The government defines illegal operators as those that have not completed the Ministry of Finance licensing process. Those companies operate without paying the R$30 million licence fee, without paying taxes, without respecting advertising rules, and without joining the self-exclusion system, which already blocks 700,000 registered users from licensed platforms. On the day Lula signed the decree, Finance Ministry official Dario Durigan confirmed that more than 50,000 sites linked to around 300 companies had already been taken down.
Third Enforcement Measure in Recent Weeks
The June 19 decree is the third recent enforcement measure in the government’s crackdown on illegal betting. On May 21, the Central Bank announced monitoring of individuals and companies suspected of running unlicensed operations, with financial institutions required to implement that tracking by December 1. On June 17, the government introduced tax liability for influencers, brands, and social networks that promote unlicensed operators.
Supplier Regulation Is Next
SPA plans a public hearing on companies that host virtual slot products, including Fortune Tiger, known locally as “jogo do tigrinho.” Macorin said direct supervision of game suppliers would reduce duplicate compliance checks, since a single supplier can serve multiple operators simultaneously. Enforcement will start through a virtual lab coordinated by SPA and Anatel, Brazil’s telecoms regulator.
💡TGJ Take
Brazil has moved from site takedowns to payment freezes, and that raises the cost of unlicensed operation in a way domain blocks never did. Frozen bank accounts and retroactive tax bills are not easy to absorb, and payment firms now carry direct liability if they ignore SPA notices. For affiliates and media buyers, the June 17 measure already on record means promotion of unlicensed traffic carries real financial risk. The planned supplier hearing signals that enforcement will soon reach further up the supply chain.
