It was all about Latin America on the latest episode of iGaming Daily. Fernando Noodt and Lucía Gando from the SBC Noticias team were joined by Isadora Marcante, SBC’s Relationship Manager for Brazil, to look at the latest news from the region.

They began in Brazil where the Senate is set to vote on the return of legalised land-based casinos, a sector that has been banned since 1946.

On the industry’s reaction to the potential change, Isadora explained that they “really believe that this should be legalised” and many still don’t understand why the sector was banned by previous Brazilian president Eurico Gaspar Dutra almost 80 years ago.

She added: “We have a lot of hidden and clandestine casinos in Brazil. Sau Paulo, for example, is a big place and we have so many land-based casinos there. They’re illegal and mostly run by criminal people because money laundering happens a lot in this sector because it’s not legalised.

“If you see the news when the police break in you see how many people are working there: waitresses, managers, bartenders and security guards. So, a lot of people could actually get a formal job and work without being afraid of being arrested. They are normal people.”

It is estimated that regulating brick-and-mortar locations could create over 10 million jobs in the tourism sector and generate investments of more than 70m BRL (£9.5m).

Turning to the online market in Brazil, President Lula delivered a warning that he would end online betting and gaming if the upcoming regulations don’t meet the expectations of the government.

There has been concern throughout the industry about this prospect, especially among international operators.

“Providers and every company involved in the industry were quite concerned,” explained Isadora. “The foreign companies are like this is a sign that we’re not very safe so if you’re in doubt of coming here, don’t, because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“We’ve got the National Association of Games and Lotteries in Brazil saying that the phrase Lula used was not good because it only helps the companies that don’t want to get a licence and work properly and in a regulated market. So this only satisfies them and not the [regulated] industry.”

Ending the episode, the trio switched their focus to Ecuador where the government has re-authorised the advertising of the betting and gaming industry via the executive Decree 421.

On the news, Lucía said: “This opens a new window for the industry to develop. Land-based casinos, bingos and gaming in general is banned right now in Ecuador so this opens up a window for at least igaming and sports betting to prosper.”

Fernando added that there was a push for a referendum on legalising casinos in Ecuador, however, this was halted due to an “institutional crisis”. He suggested that this discussion could be reopened again following this news.