Cristina Romero De Alba, partner at the Madrid-based law firm Loyra Abogados, considers whether Mexico is finally saying goodbye to its 1947 law.
ALMOST 70 years, numerous governments and more than 10 failed attempts to amend the Mexican gaming law first published in 1947, it seems that we are about to witness the passing of a new law on games of chance and betting that is likely to change the legislative landscape in Mexico permanently.
The old law contains (far) too many question marks and voids that laid the ground for the exercise of (too) discretionary powers and contributed to the booming of illegal venues, operators and machines and put the label of legal uncertainty on the gaming industry as a whole. Not the best environment for legal, well established operators that kept fighting to gain market share while bearing the burden of taxation and regulatory requirements.
With regard to remote/online gaming, there is legal uncertainty and discretionary interpretation, as only certain existing permit-holders (permisionarios) are permitted to operate online gaming under an ad hoc extension of their respective land-based gaming regulations, pursuant to an expansive interpretation of the content of those permits. And the illegal black market is as wide as can be in the biggest gaming market in Latin America. In the coming months - politics permitting - this will start to change, slowly but steadily.
The draft Law on Games of Chance and Betting that was approved by the lower chamber in Mexico City in early December is now in the hands of the senators and is the project that has gone farthest; up to the official proclamation and entry into force and the first one that includes fully fledged, albeit succinct, remote gaming regulations. With an online gaming market worth over $400m (and those are the lower estimates), let’s hope for the best.
Read the full article in the latest issue of iNTERGAMINGi
