Legislation

Brazil – Brazil’s large scale casino law slots into bigger bill

By Phil - 26 February 2019

Gaming in large scale resorts is gaining ground in Brazil after a new gambling law which would legalise casinos as part of large scale resorts has been incorporated into a much larger gambling bill.

Earlier this month Deputy Paulo Azi put forward PL 530/2019 which outlines a system whereby integrated resort casinos would be permitted and would be aimed primarily at promoting tourism.

The new bill could either have been considered on its own merits, or be incorporated into gambling bill PL 442/91 which passed the special committee stage in 2016. The General Committee of the House of Deputies has, it has now been revealed, decided to attach Deputy Azi’s proposal to PL 442/91

Currently, PL 442/91 is the most comprehensive gambling bill under consideration. If it is approved, the final text of PL 442/91 will replace the texts of all other gambling legislation which have been put before the house over several years.

PL 442/91 seeks to allow for casinos within wider leisure complexes, and would allow for bingo and electronic bingo gaming machines outside of casinos. However online gaming would not be permitted under the terms of the bill. In order to be amended, a plenary amendment signed by all party leaders and the approval of the deputy who drafted the original text, Guilherme Mussi, is needed. If this approval does not occur, the text can only be changed during the voting in the plenary of the house.

Deputy Paulo Azi’s bill put forward this month, and which will now be part of PL 442/91, imposes a cap on resort casinos depending on the population of the state. Only one casino will be permitted for states with a population of 15 million or less. States with populations between 15 million and 25 million will be allowed to have two casinos while any states with a population above 25 million will be allowed to have three.