Argentina Capital Pushes to Legalize Online and Mobile Gambling

Buenos Aires prepares for the legalization of the online gambling sector. After last week’s Inside Latam Session organized at SAGSE, Modernization and IT Manager of the Buenos Aires City Lottery, Sebastián Vivo announced the positive news.

Commenting on the application process, Vivo said:

“Any new regulatory scheme will have an invariable element present: the political timing. Since SAGSE’s day one, everyone’s been asking me when we’ll begin receiving applications, but I haven’t got the answer. We are currently finishing the details of the draft technical standards, which are 99% ready. When we finish and the government authorizes us, we are going to publish the information and call those interested in a series of informative meetings. We are hoping that will occur soon.”

Original Plans

According to the initial plan of the LOTBA (Lottery) organization, gambling operations were projected for this past October. After the elections in the state and defeat of the ruling party in the past August, the legalization process has been canceled. However, Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio, Rodriguez Larreta, has been re-elected which backed up the gambling project significantly.

Inside Latam Session Themes

During the latest session of the Inside Latam event, several gambling-related topics have been discussed. One of the sessions was Online gaming regulation in the city of Buenos Aires when Vivo spoke about the expected regulatory scheme in the Argentian capital. Vivo explained that gambling operations must be organized by the city, without the participation of private subjects. He added:

“From a legal standpoint, we are, technically, not speaking about license holders but instead, online gaming agencies operating under permits granted by LOTBA. But the lottery would retain ownership of those games.”

Vivo additionally clarified that the LOTBA organization didn’t grant any official licenses to local providers. It leads to the conclusion that online operators who engage in gambling activity are breaking the criminal code.

Land-based gambling is, on the other hand, approved including games that have been already presented in casinos all over the capital – casino, bingo game is not allowed while the lottery is subject to LOTBA control.

Meanwhile, the LOTBA lottery organization is working on technical standards that will help future licensees to meet with the requirements they should adhere to. Here we talk about conditions regarding intelligent data control, responsible gaming strategy, of labs, producers and components and demands of the Money-Laundering Prevention Unit.

Source:

“In Buenos Aires City, we are solely going to regulate online and mobile wagering”, yogonet.com, November 25, 2019.