COLOMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Juan Camilo Carrasco, Asensi Abogados
licence in Colombia, new Resolution 20231200017474 introduces a further requirement: operators must sub- mit a technical study supporting the figures presented in their business plan. For a concession contract for a new operator in Colombia, such a study must be attached, supporting the sales projections included in the business plan. If the operator had signed a previ- ous concession contract, this aforementioned techni- cal marketing study should be based on the last year of operational results. Lastly, as a consequence of the last Resolution 20250021304, Coljuegos introduced the possibility for operators to use insurance policies as an alterna- tive mechanism to guarantee the payment of player deposits and prizes. 7. Responsible Gambling (RG), Also Known as Safer Gambling (SG) 7.1 RG Requirements On 16 October 2024, new guidelines were included in Resolution 20244000022654, setting forth the require- ments for responsible gambling. The following were to be implemented by operators before 31 December 2024: • definition of a new responsible gambling pro- gramme, focused on three groups: (a) a gambling population with gambling risk fac- tors uncontrolled; (b) gambling population with gambling risk factors (self-excluded) uncontrolled; and (c) non-gambling population; • control of pathological gambling; • personnel training; • responsible gambling campaigns; • self-exclusion process; • risk factor identification test; and • appointment of a designated officer. The new regulations include the following obligations for operators: • preparing a best-practices responsible gambling manual;
• developing a staff training programme; • establishing mechanisms to detect risky behaviour; • facilitating access to Coljuegos’ risk factor identifi- cation test and health institution contact numbers;
• establishing a self-exclusion form; and • maintaining a self-exclusion registry. 7.2 Gambling Management Tools
Advertising must contain warnings about the risk of gambling addiction, and must include a message about responsible gambling and the restriction of gambling activity to persons of legal age in Colombia. According to Resolution 20244000022654, the follow- ing messages could be used. • “Uncontrolled gambling causes addiction. Gam- bling is entertainment; play in moderation. Sale to minors is prohibited.”“Play well. Being responsible is part of gambling.” In this line, the only mandatory message that must be included in the operator’s platform and in every piece of advertising (BTL or ATL) is that “gambling is prohibited for minors, and is only for those aged 18 and above.” Operators should adopt measures that allow players to define limits on gambling (time, expenditure, depos- its and/or losses), and players may modify these limits whenever they wish to do so. Self-exclusion may be revoked by the player at any time. Revocation of self-exclusion shall take effect 72 hours after signing up. 8. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) 8.1 AML Legislation Colombia is part of the Financial Action Group of Latin America ( Grupo de Acción Financiera de Lati- noamérica , or GAFILAT). In this respect, it follows the guidelines issued by the Financial Action Task Force for the prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing; therefore, the obligations of operators do not differ from those in other countries. The AML legal framework is based on the following regulations:
130 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook