Brazil’s Ministry of Finance will publish more than 25,000 documents from completed betting licensing processes, ending a regime that had kept the files under 100 years of secrecy.
The disclosure was announced by Finance Minister Dario Durigan alongside Daniele Cardoso of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA), the body that has licensed fixed-odds betting operators in Brazil’s regulated market since it opened in January 2025. The files cover completed authorisation processes and will be released on the ministry’s website on a rolling basis as they are processed.
Redaction and Rollout
Each document will be redacted to remove personal data and confidential information before publication, a step the ministry says is required to comply with data protection rules while still allowing public scrutiny of how licence applications were assessed. A task force has been set up with the Comptroller General of the Union to speed up the release schedule.
The shift follows criticism of the SPA over file secrecy since the regulated market launched. Durigan framed the move as a transparency commitment tied directly to the government’s broader stance on access to information.
“My commitment, like President Lula’s commitment, is to provide transparency. This government is not a government of secrecy, it is not a government that intends to hoard information and withhold information from people. Therefore, in the coming days, all proceedings concerning companies regulated by the SPA that have been concluded, will be widely publicised.”
For operators and suppliers, the move raises the stakes on the quality of compliance documentation submitted during licensing. Investors and suppliers are expected to examine the released files closely, particularly details on ownership structures and fee payments assessed during Brazil’s first regulatory cycle, the country’s largest operators among them.
World Cup Advertising Oversight
The transparency push lands alongside a separate tightening of SPA oversight on betting advertising ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Cardoso said the regulator has met with public prosecutors, consumer protection agencies and members of Brazil’s National Consumer Protection System to reinforce operator compliance with the commercial communication rules set out in Law No. 14.790/2023.
“We are reinforcing monitoring and oversight actions during the competition period. We have already instructed regulated agents on the need for strict adherence to the responsible gaming rules stipulated in the legislation [and] we will intensify the monitoring of the campaigns.”
The SPA’s first responsible gaming seminar is scheduled for 16 June, part of a wider effort to align operator marketing practices with consumer protection standards during the tournament period.
The combination of document disclosure and tightened advertising monitoring signals a regulator moving to assert oversight credibility as Brazil’s licensed market enters its second year, having already weathered debate over betting tax increases and committee pushback on tax hikes. Operators with pending or future authorisation requests will be watching how the first batch of released files is structured, since it is likely to set the template for scrutiny of subsequent applications.
Source: Secretariat of Prizes and Betting
