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Ecuador’s financial intelligence unit is expected to begin using a Palantir platform in January 2027 to help identify suspected money laundering linked to sports betting, according to secretary of public administration José Julio Neira.
Neira outlined the plans during an interview with Teleamazonas’s De Lunes a Lunes programme on October 5. He said the objective was not to prohibit sports betting but to strengthen supervision of platforms, operators and the origin of the funds used.
According to Primicias, Neira identified several potential money laundering risks, including the digital nature of betting transactions, the use of multiple payment methods and the possibility of third parties being used to move money. The Unidad de Análisis Financiero y Económico (UAFE) would use Palantir’s data analysis and artificial intelligence tools to examine large volumes of information and identify suspicious patterns.
The announcement follows earlier changes to Ecuador’s sports betting tax and licensing framework. President Daniel Noboa’s Executive Decree 487 amended the rules governing the sector, requiring both resident and non-resident operators to obtain a licence from the Ministry of Sports. The reforms accompanied the unique income tax regime for sports betting operators, which began collecting tax in July 2024 at a rate of 15%.
The decree provided for five year licences with an annual charge equivalent to 655 unified basic salaries, approximately US$307,000 at the 2025 minimum wage. It also required public bodies, including UAFE, to adapt their systems within three months to support enforcement, money laundering prevention and sanctioning processes.
Palantir already has a relationship with Ecuador’s government. In 2025, the authorities contracted a platform from the US company to strengthen customs risk management and transaction analysis. According to Primicias, that separate contract was worth more than US$6 million.
The Primicias report did not specify the cost of the planned UAFE deployment, the data the platform would access or whether its introduction would create additional reporting obligations for betting operators.
