Brazil's Finance Ministry has begun publishing the documents used in the authorization process for companies seeking to legally operate in the country's betting market.
In this first phase, the ministry released documents covering 80 of the 85 operators that went through licensing with the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), totaling more than 2,000 pages.
Recently, Brazil's Finance Ministry faced scrutiny after denying access to said documents with some information protected under provisions that were to restrict disclosure for up to 100 years.
The material includes technical opinions on operators' legal eligibility, the vetting of controllers and administrators, the origin of their funds, and money laundering prevention mechanisms, along with licensing fee payment verifications and final process reports.
In total, 582 documents spanning 2,240 pages were reviewed for this phase and, according to the SPA, the release lets the public consult the technical analysis behind each authorization, with further documents to follow gradually as they can be released without compromising personal data or legally protected information.
The disclosure sits alongside the Ministry's other recent moves, blocking millions of users from betting platforms and stepping up enforcement, positioning the increased transparency as part of a wider strategy to control and oversee Brazil's betting market.
Personal data and other legally restricted information have been withheld or anonymized from the published versions, though original unredacted documents remain part of the underlying administrative case files.
The SPA said future phases will weigh public interest and the relevance of the information against the need to protect personal and confidential data, with the list of authorized companies and published processes updated periodically as new authorizations are completed.
SPA officials told a Chamber of Deputies committee that more than 60,000 illegal betting sites have been blocked.
