Brazil bans FIES debt renegotiators from fixed-odds betting sites

Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA/MF) has issued two rules that block beneficiaries of FIES debt renegotiation from opening or using accounts on fixed-odds betting platforms. For operators, this is not a policy note to skim and forget: it creates a mandatory screening workflow at onboarding and at first daily login, plus a short clock for suspensions, refunds, and recordkeeping.

1. The rules are Instruction Normative SPA/MF No. 8 and Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1.638, both signed on Monday (26/6) by secretary Daniele Correa Cardoso and published in the Diário Oficial da União on Friday (30/6). The ordinance amends Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1.231 of Tuesday (31/7) 2024 and adds FIES beneficiaries to the list of people barred from participating in betting.
2. The operational core is a compulsory check against SIGAP (Sistema de Gestão de Apostas), the betting registry managed by SPA/MF, which holds the blocked CPFs. The system returns one of two answers: “Impedido – Renegociação FIES” or “Não Impedido”. Operators must run this check at two points: when a user opens an account and at the first login of the day.
3. If the CPF comes back as blocked during registration, the operator must deny account opening immediately. If the block is detected at the daily login of an existing account, the operator has up to one day to notify the user by email, SMS, messaging app, or another available channel. The notice must tell the user they have two days to withdraw funds voluntarily from the account.
4. After notification, the operator has up to three days from the SIGAP check to suspend the account. If the user does not withdraw the funds in time, the operator must transfer them to a bank or payment account registered and maintained with an institution authorized by the Central Bank. Open bets at the time of identification must be canceled, with full refund of the amounts.
5. If a direct refund is not possible because of issues with the user’s account, inability to contact the user, or refusal to provide a destination account, the operator must keep accounting records of the amounts and continue trying to reach the account holder. All user communications must be documented, including date, time, channel used, and message content, and stored for at least five years. The restriction is temporary and ends automatically when the CPF no longer appears in the SIGAP blocked module; reactivation of the account, however, depends on a separate process not detailed in the source text.