Mexico to vote on online gambling by end of year
Legislation which was passed by lower house last year should go before Senate shortly
Mexico could move to regulate online gambling before the end of the year, with a vote on tabled legislation expected to take place in the Senate within the next couple of months.
eGaming Review understands that while the draft regulation, which has already been approved by Mexico’s lower house, is not yet on the legislative agenda, it should be analysed and voted on by the end of December.
The legislation sets out to regulate online gambling in the country, which has already created an autonomous gaming authority, the National Institute of Games and Raffles, which operates within Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior.
And regulation could open the doors to foreign operators, albeit on the proviso operators enters a partnership with a Mexican firm and maintains a presence in the country.
“Only Mexican companies, duly incorporated and registered under the General Corporations Law, can apply for a licence to operate games with bets and lotteries,” Carlos F. Portilla Robertson of law firm Portilla, Ruy-DÃaz & Aguilar, told eGaming Review.
“[But] in Mexico there is no prohibition or restriction for a foreign company to hold 51% or more of the shares of a Mexican gambling company,” he added
Portilla also said operators would pay Mexico’s standard corporate income tax of 29%, known as the “profit tax”, as well as a 1% or 2% contribution to Ministry of the Interior.
European firms are already making moves in Mexico, with Kambi striking a deal in June to provide Mexican media conglomerate Grupo Televisa, which owns the PlayCity Casino brand, with an in-house sportsbook. In addition, Ladbrokes joint-venture Sportium earlier this year landed a deal to provide an online presence for land-based operator Casino Life.
Major operators will be watching the move to regulate Mexico’s grey market closely, with the jurisdiction understood to be the fastest growing online gambling market in Latin America.