Brazil’s Treasury asks Supreme Court to curb state and municipal betting licenses

Brazil’s Finance Ministry is asking the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to keep restrictions on states and municipalities issuing sports betting authorizations, arguing that some local licenses are being used in criminal schemes. For PSPs and acquiring teams, the practical issue is simple: licensing fragmentation can become a fraud, compliance, and jurisdictional-risk mess very quickly.

1. Finance Minister Dario Durigan met STF President Edson Fachin on Wednesday (16) in Brasília and asked the Court to maintain decisions that limit how far municipalities and states can go when authorizing sports betting companies.
2. The Treasury’s request relies on Federal Police investigations that, according to Durigan, found criminal use of companies originally licensed by municipalities. He said the data came from the Finance Ministry and fed recent operations carried out by the Federal Police together with the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
3. Durigan also pointed to a second case before the STF involving a state that was allegedly issuing authorizations valid across the entire country. In his view, that clashes with the law approved by Congress. He said he committed to keeping Fachin updated on regulatory changes.
4. The government’s line is not subtle: it wants permanent tightening for the sector. Durigan listed three priorities — fighting illegal betting, strengthening anti-money laundering controls, and restricting advertising — and said the goal is “permanent rigor” in the treatment of illegal bets.
5. Durigan also said the government will use data on betting volumes and household debt, including cross-referenced information from Desenrola, to keep refining regulation. On his account, the state wants to monitor the market more closely and treat betting “like cigarettes” from a policy standpoint.

Fachin said the STF should move to the merits stage of the betting cases starting in August. The Court has already granted precautionary measures in different proceedings; now it will address the substance of the disputes, including the sufficiency of rules issued by the Finance Ministry, the 2023 Lei das Bets, and the role of states and municipalities in the market.