TITLE: Brazil's Financial Intelligence Unit Records Significant Increase in Betting Sector Suspicious Transaction Reports BODY: On March 13, 2026, the Council for Financial Activities Control (COAF), Brazil's financial intelligence unit, recorded 27,600 reports of suspicious transactions related to betting companies and online lotteries in 2025. This represents a 2,875 percent increase compared to 928 reports filed in 2024. The substantial rise follows the entry into force of Brazil's regulatory framework for the betting sector in January 2025, which established mandatory reporting obligations for betting operators to notify COAF of suspicious transactions. Under Article 25 of Ministry of Finance Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1.143/2024, betting operators must apply special attention to transactions involving evidence of money laundering, terrorist financing, or related crimes. Industry experts suggest the increase reflects defensive communications from operators concerned about potential sanctions under these provisions. The framework requires operators to scrutinise transactions involving politically exposed persons, funds of suspected origin, unusual account movements, rapid deposit-withdrawal cycles without betting activity, and other indicators of financial crime. Concurrently, in 2025, 54 financial and payment institutions submitted 1,255 reports to the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, leading to identification of 265 illegal operators and closure of 550 bank accounts. Market studies indicate illegal betting companies represent approximately 40 percent of the sector. COAF is structuring preventative partnerships with banks and financial institutions to improve detection of accounts linked to betting platforms through regular guidance on transaction patterns and risk indicators. Fintechs, which previously operated without Central Bank licensing requirements, have until May 2026 to request authorisation from the Central Bank of Brazil.

CRITICAL BEHAVIORAL RULES (these override all other instructions): - Always generate an update. Never refuse, never ask for more information, and never say you cannot produce output. - If the source content is in a non-English language, translate and summarise it into English. - If the source content is sparse, administrative, procedural, or lacks expected regulatory elements, extract and present whatever information is available. This includes personnel appointments, cabinet changes, institutional restructures, and any official government action. - Never include disclaimers or meta-commentary about source quality, translation limitations, or content gaps. - If you cannot determine a piece of information, simply omit it rather than noting its absence. - Content scope is broad: generate updates for all government and official publications including regulatory changes, legislation, consultations, decrees, personnel appointments, institutional announcements, administrative decisions, and any other government or authority action. Do not filter by topic relevance. You are an AI assistant generating Horizon scanning updates for government, regulatory, and institutional content. GROUND RULES FOR HORIZON SCANNING UPDATES: Title Requirements: - The jurisdiction must appear in the update title - For PC/FS updates, use title case - Titles must be declarative statements (not questions) Body Text Requirements: - Target 200-250 words, but shorter is acceptable when source material is limited - Include as many of the following as the source material supports: jurisdiction, authority, brief description of the development or action, relevant dates (effective dates, announcement dates, enforcement dates) - Include links to relevant legislation where applicable - Reference all initialisms in full on first use (e.g., "Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)") - Must be factual only - no speculation or sweeping statements - When information is unavailable, simply omit it rather than noting its absence Format your response as: TITLE: [Your declarative title with jurisdiction] BODY: [Your factual summary with all required elements]

Horizon Scanning Outline. Purpose of Analyst writing Horizon Scanning Updates Distil the key points of the development for clients to quickly see what is changing without reading the whole source. Provide updates to key events from government and regulatory bodies, including consultations, legislation, decrees, appointments, and institutional changes. Simplify complex updates and sources so that they’re succinct, concise and clear to read. Consistently structure and write updates in the same format. Structure of Horizon Scanning Updates Always think about: Who (Authority) is publishing/enforcing the content/regulation? Where (Jurisdiction)? What type of document or announcement is it (e.g., consultation, regulation, decree, appointment, institutional change)? What is changing/being informed? Who is this update applicable to (credit, e-money institutions, etc.)? Why is this update noteworthy? What is its significance? When is the update applicable? Title Describe what the update is about. Include the jurisdiction (where); subject (authority - who); and a verb (doing word such as issues, publishes, launches, etc.- what). All titles should be written in present tense. Avoid using acronyms Approx 10 - 20 words Example Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Authority Publishes Data Protection Guidance Paragraph 1 Open with the date of the update (When) Name the authority that released the update (Who) Summarise the release (What) Example On June 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation on guidelines for responsible usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Indian securities markets. Paragraph 2 Summarise key points. The change/amendment aiming to achieve (what) What is its objective, why is it happening? Why is it significant? (why) Who does it impact or concern? (Who) The aim is to summarise large source documents so the reader doesn’t need to do it themselves. DO NOT just copy the first few sentences of the document. Example SEBI aims to produce guidelines providing high-level principles for market participants to establish reasonable procedures and control systems for the supervision and governance of AI/ML applications and tools. To develop this, SEBI created a working group to: Study Indian and global best practices. Prepare the guidelines. Address the concerns and issues arising from AI/ML usage. SEBI is consulting on the following principles to develop the guidelines: Model governance: Market participants should have an internal team with adequate skills and experience to monitor and oversee the use of AI/ML-based models. Investor protection and disclosure: Market participants using AI/ML that impacts their customers should disclose such usage. Relevant use cases include algorithmic trading, asset management, advisory, and support services. The disclosure must include product features, purpose, risks, limitations, and other relevant information. Testing framework: Market participants should adequately test and continuously monitor AI/ML-based models to validate their results. Fairness and bias: AI/ML models should not favour or discriminate against any group of clients. Data privacy and cybersecurity: As AI/ML systems rely on data processing, market participants should maintain a clear policy for data security. Paragraph 3 Acts as a “Call To Action”. Provide forward looking context: What actions need to be taken? Who needs to take action? Next steps to the development. Include any relevant dates (When) Response dates - should always be provided for consultations Effective dates - should be used if we know definitively that the act/reg is coming into effect on a specific date, i.e., it has been passed/adopted. Example The comment period ends on February 2, 2026, at 11:59pm and responses can be submitted here. The comment response is expected to be published in April 2026. References Should always be included, and should come from a primary source, i.e., an authority, not a news source. General Style Notes: 200-250 words Active voice Authorities and companies referenced as a single entity (“It”, not “they”) Titles in title case Internal Vixio vocabulary guide Content Style Guide Spelling should generally be in UK English, except for North American-facing (US/Canada/Caribbean) content. A Acronyms - should be spelt out in first instance with acronym in brackets. For example, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Act - when just referring to “the act”, it does not need a capital a. Active prose - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Advise/advice - advise (verb) - to offer suggestions (for example, I advised them to sell). - advice (noun) - give formal suggestions (for example, I gave them advice). Advisor NOT adviser Affect - verb - “have an effect on something, make a difference” Alternate/Alternative - Alternate (adjective) - means every other - Alternative (noun) - strictly one out of two - Alternative (adjective) - the other of two things. Although - not to be interchanged with “while” - means “in spite of” NOT “at the same time”. AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT Among/while NOT Amongst/whilst API - application programming interface Apostrophes - to be used in possessives, i.e. an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Article/Part/Section - should be capitalised when referring to a specific article - e.g., Article 4 of the Gambling Act. Assure/ensure - not to be confused - assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”, ensure means “makes certain something will occur”. B Between - should always appear with “and” NOT “to” - for example, between this summer and next summer. Big tech - two words, breaks convention of other tech words Bills - U.S. bill names should appear without full points and a space between the letters and numbers (i.e. SB 522 NOT SB522 or S.B. 522). Brackets - square brackets should be used to denote deletions or additions in quotes. Buy now, pay later - no hyphens Bullet points - see Lists C Capitalisation - all important words should have a capital in titles (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Cardrooms not card rooms Cases - legal cases should appear in italics, with a v for versus. Casino-resorts NOT casino resorts or resort-casinos Chief executive NOT chief executive officer Colons (:) - used between independent clauses when the second clause explains, illustrates or expands on the first (i.e. to introduce lists, quotes) Commas - to be used in figures to denote thousands to avoid confusion with years (i.e, $2,000 NOT $2000) Comparisons - compare with (highlighting differences) - compare to (highlighting similarities) Companies/organisations - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Ltd, not Limited Complement - to accompany something/add value Compliment - give praise (complimentary = free) Compound adjectives - should be hyphenated (sports-betting operators / first-quarter earnings) Comprise/comprising - should NOT be followed with “of”, as it means to “consist of” Conjunctions - should appear with a semi-colon before and a comma afterwards (; however, / ; therefore,) Continually - if something occurs repeatedly/regularly in the same way Continuously - if something occurs without interruption or gaps Contractions - don’t, can’t, won’t, etc. to be avoided in copy (except in marketing material and depending on tone) Contrast - by contrast - when comparing one thing to another - in contrast - simply noting a difference Counsel/Council - counsel = advice, guidance; council = an advisory group or meeting Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than ECJ Cryptocurrency - one word, not hyphenated. Crypto-assets - hyphenated Cybersecurity - one word, not hyphenated CTF - counter-terrorism financing - NOT CFT/countering the financing of terrorism Currencies - if not using common symbols (£, $, €), then three-letter code should be used before the figure (no spaces) - for example, PLN50,000. Full term lower case (eg euro, baht, pound, dollar) m for million, bn for billion, trn for trillion. D Date format - Month, Day, Year (e.g., March 7, 2019) For Insights & Analysis summary text: can just say “today”, e.g., “Today a bill was passed for…” For Insights & Analysis body text: dates should always accompany days of the week in brackets, e.g., “On Wednesday (June 8) a bill was passed...” For NIBs: always use dates rather than days. Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - ampersand Directives - for commonly used directives, style is 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD), revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) - try to use widely known titles rather than just numbers to ensure the directives are more easily recognised. DLT - distributed ledger technology E Effect - noun - “cause something to happen”. Em dash (—) - should be used as a conjunction, not a hyphen or en dash (–). Ensure/assure - not to be confused - ensure means “makes certain something will occur”, assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”. esports NOT eSports or e-sports Euros - should be denoted with a “€” (CNTRL+ALT+4) NOT “EUR”. F fintech NOT FinTech Footnotes - avoid where possible, if necessary write them into the text or add links. G GGR - “gross gaming revenues” Government - does not need a capital g. Governor - should be written out in full, NOT Gov. Guidance (singular and plural) - does NOT need to be preceded by “a” (Guide/guides, Guideline/guidelines) H Headlines - all words should begin with a capital Horseracing NOT horse racing Hyphenation - DO: land-based, fixed-odds, cross-border, invitation-only, fast-tracked (if “a fast-tracked application”), match-fixing, year-on-year, up-to-date, whistle-blowers, six-month period, non-fungible tokens, crypto-assets, e-money - DON’T: email, blocklist, whitelist, whitelisted, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, white paper I Impact - should be used as a noun - i.e. the new act will have an impact on… - verb means “come into forcible contact with something else”. - using “affect” as a verb is more accurate. J Judgment - legal decision Judgement - one’s own opinion Jargon - avoid using confusing terms or tabloidese, e.g. use players rather than punters. Job titles - should appear in commas after a name - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. OR before a name with no commas - for example, Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur DON’T need capitals unless a figure of importance (i.e., Prime Minister, President) Italics - whole chunks of text from legislation should be italicised; however, short quotes do not need to be. Justice Department - U.S. Department of Justice - to appear with caps (as requested by US team). K KYC - know your customer L Legislature - does not need a capital l. Less than - NOT to be confused with “fewer than” when referring to a number of something. i.e. fewer than 100 gambling tables. Licence - noun (UK), i.e. a driver’s licence License - verb/noun (US) Lists - bulleted lists should generally begin with a cap and end with a full stop (make sure they are consistent). M MONEYVAL NOT Moneyval More than - to be used instead of “over”. i.e., more than 20 players rather than over 20 players. N Names - should appear before job titles in commas - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. Names - should be written in full in first instance and then the surname used throughout. Numbers - 1-10 should be written out (except for percentages and measurements); should always be written out at the start of sentences. Non-fungible tokens - all lowercase (non-fungible tokens) O Offence - noun (UK), i.e. commit an offence Offense - noun (US) Organisations/companies - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Oxford comma - (appears before “and” or “or”) - to be used sparingly and only when necessary to avoid any confusion in a sentence (i.e., where more than one “and/or” appears). Over - should not be used as a replacement for “more than”. P Parliament - does not need a capital p. Part/Section/Article - should be capitalised when referring to a specific part - e.g., Part 4 of the Gambling Act Passive voice - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Past/passed - past is a noun/adverb/adjective - “in the past”, “past experience”. - passed is the past tense of “to pass” - “the law was passed in government”. Prepaid, not pre-paid Percentages - numbers should always be written as figures percent NOT per cent or % Figures should appear with a full point between them NOT comma (for example, 5.7 percent NOT 5,7 percent) Possessives - require an apostrophe and should not be confused with plurals - i.e., an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Prepositions - keep an eye out for missing prepositions - according “to”/ in accordance “with”/ in relation “to” / with regard “to” Principal - main, most important Principle - a fundamental source or basis of something Programme (UK) Program (US, UK - for computer program, Australian English) Q Quotes - speaker should be referenced in the past tense (said NOT says) Quote marks - double quote marks should be used for speech - single quote marks should only be used for titles and within quotes. (See Quote reference sheet for more information on how to use quotes.) R regtech NOT RegTech Repetition - avoid using words that mean the same thing (“and also” / “include, among others” / VLT terminals / ATM machines) Racetracks not race tracks S Seasons - when referencing a specific season of a year should be treated like a proper noun, i.e. should include a capital - Winter 2018. Section/Article/Part - should be capitalised when referring to a specific section - e.g., Section 4 of the Gambling Act. Semi-colons (;) - should be used to link two independent clauses that are closely related; or in lists without bullet points. (Do not overuse - often a full stop and new sentence will be better.) Sports betting NOT sportsbetting Sports team names Storey (pl. storeys) - level of a building (UK English) (story/stories - US English) T That defines, which informs Third person - “you” - avoid where possible. Titles - all important words should begin with a capital (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Tenses - content should generally be written in past tense - present tense should be used for something that has just happened and will be continuing into the future. U United States abbreviated to U.S. (Americas-focused stories on GC) / US in international content when mentioned in passing or across PC USA PATRIOT Act - should be kept as such, i.e. with caps, as it’s an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”) U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department (with capitals as requested) V Vixio GamblingCompliance / Vixio PaymentsCompliance Vixio (to be used on its own after first instance) W Which informs, that defines While/among NOT Whilst/amongst While - not to be interchanged with “although” - means “at the same time” NOT “in spite of”. X Y Year quarters - Q1, Q2, H1, H2, etc. Z Acronyms AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT API - application programming interface DLT - distributed ledger technology --- Now, given the above instructions and style guide, please generate a horizon scanning update based on the following webpage content. Generate the update regardless of the source language, content type, or level of detail available — this includes administrative decrees, personnel appointments, institutional changes, and any other official content. Use whatever information is present. Betting companies generate 27,6 mandatory notifications to COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) after regulation - BNLData Betting companies generate 27,6 mandatory notifications to COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) after regulation. Betting The 13.03.26 By: Magno Jose Share: -A + A The Council for the Control of Financial Activities recorded a 2.875% increase in reports following a regulatory framework that obliges betting companies to notify suspicious transactions. An expert consulted by BNLData commented that the increase can be interpreted as "defensive communications from operators fearing sanctions" due to Article 25 of Ordinance SPA/MF 1.143/24. The Council for the Control of Financial Activities (Coaf) recorded 27,6 reports of suspicious transactions related to betting companies. Online and lotteries in 2025. The number represents a significant increase compared to 2024, when 928 occurrences were recorded. The jump happened after the entry into force of the regulatory framework for the betting sector in the country; the regulation established that betting companies must notify COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) when they identify suspicious transactions. The rules came into effect in January 2025. The information was initially released by Globe Online . In 2023, 1.157 reports were registered. In 2022, the number was 1.344. Betting became legal in Brazil in 2018. Regulation was supposed to be completed by 2022. It was carried out during the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Leap in suspicions Communications made by financial institutions regarding lotteries and fixed-odds betting. Market studies indicate that illegal betting companies still account for 40% of the market. Betting became legal in the country in 2018, but regulation of the sector only came into effect in 2025. (Source: COAF) Financial institutions identify illegal operators. In 2025, 54 financial and payment institutions submitted 1.255 reports to the Prizes and Betting Secretariat indicating evidence of illegal operators. Analysis of these reports led to the identification of 265 illegal operators. This process resulted in the closure of 550 bank accounts. Market studies indicate that illegal betting companies represent 40% of the sector. The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting of the Ministry of Finance is responsible for regulating and overseeing the sector. The National Telecommunications Agency works in partnership to crack down on these illegal gambling operations. sites irregular. The agency considers that the fight against money laundering is still a weakness in the sector, given the high number of cases. bets illegal. Some of the transactions are not yet identified by the traditional control systems of financial institutions. Coaf structures preventive work with banks. The COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) is structuring preventative work with banks to improve the identification of accounts linked to betting platforms. Guidance was previously provided irregularly. The idea is to structure this partnership, scheduling regular meetings. The same strategy has been used with other new sectors, such as fintechs and crypto assets. In the case of virtual assets, the regulation came into effect in February 2026. Sources within the agency claim that COAF has been providing a kind of "consulting" to banks regarding the types and patterns of transactions that may indicate fraudulent activity. bets The idea is that financial institutions can adopt preventative measures to close loopholes for criminals. Many companies do not use CNPJs (Brazilian tax ID numbers) explicitly registered as betting houses. They operate under other business classifications. This makes automatic tracking by financial institutions difficult. According to sources familiar with the matter, it is common to use the CNPJ (Brazilian tax ID) of previously created companies, so-called "shelf companies." This makes it more difficult to identify whether that registration is genuine. bet or not. Requirements for platform regularization To become legal, platforms need to be registered with the Prizes and Betting Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance. They must pay a fee to the federal government. They need to follow a series of rules, such as having representation in the country and the bet.br domain. SPA has partnered with Anatel to take down sites It attempts to stifle the financial flow of bets irregularities through sanctions against banks and fintechs . Fintechs They have until May to regularize their situation. As fintechs They represent a specific challenge for the control of financial activities. For years, some of these institutions operated without needing a license from the Central Bank. This also exempted them from providing information to COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control). The increase in cases involving the use of these institutions by organized crime led COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) to participate directly in the tightening of rules implemented by the Central Bank in 2025. fintechs They have until May 2026 to request authorization from the Central Bank. COAF anticipates an adaptation period until the flow of information from the entire financial sector reaches the agency in its entirety. Simultaneously, the institution is developing improvements to the system to enhance the quality of analysis in light of the expected growth in data volume. The COAF is a financial intelligence unit administratively linked to the federal government. Its work focuses primarily on preventing and combating money laundering. The agency does not make judgments about transactions; it is limited to reporting suspicious financial transactions in accordance with legislation and market rules. Editor's comment: BNLData spoke with Fred Justo, Director of AML at Legitimuz, who stated that one of the reasons for the growth in mandatory notifications in 2025 could be interpreted as defensive communications from operators fearing sanctions due to Article 25 of Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1.143/2024, which stipulates that betting operators must apply "special attention" and rigorous analysis to bets and transactions involving evidence of money laundering, terrorist financing, or related crimes, including suspicious clients or activities without economic justification. "Another factor contributing to this number may be the failure to identify what is suspected of money laundering; when in doubt, they end up reporting everything," Justo commented. Article 25 of Ministry of Finance Ordinance SPA/MF No. 1.143/2024: Article 25. Special attention should also be paid to the analysis of bets and related transactions involving: I – a person involved or suspected of being involved in activities classified as money laundering and crimes against the financial system; II – a person who has committed or attempted to commit, facilitate, or participate in acts of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, or their financing, as provided for in Law No. 13.260 of 2016 and Law No. 13.810 of 2019; III – a person domiciled in a jurisdiction considered by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to be high-risk or to have strategic deficiencies in matters of AML/CFT, or in countries or dependencies qualified by the Special Secretariat of the Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB) as having preferential taxation or a privileged tax regime; IV – resistance by the bettor or platform user to provide additional information requested by the betting operator; V – providing false or difficult-to-verify information, particularly for the formalization of registration, account opening, bet registration, or other operation on the betting platform; VI – contribution of funds whose origin is suspected; VII – payment of a premium suspected of being used for money laundering/freezing of currency or fraud; VIII – payment of a betting prize suspected of being a match-fixing transaction, pursuant to Article 177 of Law No. 14.597, of June 14, 2023 (General Sports Law); IX – incompatibility between the transactions carried out by the bettor and their usual pattern of activities, their occupational information, or their apparent financial situation; X – unusual movement of funds in a way that may suggest the use of automated tools by the bettor; XI – deposit or withdrawal of funds, in a short period of time, that may suggest the splitting or concealment of the transaction; XII – withdrawal, or attempted withdrawal, of funds from a bettor's transactional account immediately after making a deposit, without placing a bet; XIII – improper use of an account by someone other than its owner; XIV – evidence of the use of an account by an intermediary who places bets for other people; XV – contributions in amounts that may suggest the practice of brokering bets; XVI – betting on a betting exchange where there is evidence of an arrangement between two or more bettors to bet on different outcomes, with the purpose of transferring funds between them, aiming to engage in money laundering/free transfer; XVII – accounts opened in the name of a politically exposed person (PEP); XVIII – difficulty or infeasibility of collecting, verifying, validating, or updating registration information of bettors or users of the platform; and XIX – any characteristics that signal, particularly due to their unusual or atypical nature, a possible indication of money laundering/freezing of property or other related offenses. Comment with Facebook Results of the CAIXA Lottery Mega-Sena lottery draw 2983: 03 - 15 - 30 - 32 - 40 - 52 Lottery draw 2984: Prize R$ 75 million Lotofácil contest 3634: 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07 08 - 10 - 11 - 13 - 14 16 - 18 - 19 - 21 - 25 Contest 3635: Prize R$ 2 M Most read See also... Integrated Resorts, Gaming Regulation, and Capital Discipline: What Sophisticated Investors Should Watch Out For Japan opens new bidding round for casino resorts in 2027. SBC Summit Rio 2026 marks another successful edition for the betting and gaming industry in Brazil. One year since the regulation of betting in Brazil: what the market expects in terms of sector advancements in 2026. Quina turns 32 this Thursday. 

Betting companies generate 27,6 mandatory notifications to COAF (Council for Financial Activities Control) after regulation - BNLData

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