TLDR Brazil’s President Lula signed Law No. 15,358/2025, creating a legal framework to combat illegal betting and organized crime The Central Bank and Ministério da Fazenda can now order banks to block accounts tied to unauthorized betting operators Financial institutions must join fraud information-sharing systems to flag illegal operators New rules will regulate Pix transactions to prevent their use by illegal betting platforms Fines, license suspensions, and criminal penalties await entities that work with unauthorized operators
Brazil has taken a direct step against illegal betting with the signing of a new law that gives financial regulators the power to block bank accounts and transactions tied to unauthorized operators.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sanctioned Law No. 15,358/2025 on March 25. The law was published in the Official Gazette the same day.
The legislation is officially called the Legal Framework for Combating Organized Crime. It is also known as the “Raul Jungmann Law.”
The law targets fixed-odds betting operations that run without government authorization. It gives Brazil’s Central Bank and the Ministério da Fazenda new enforcement tools to shut down these operations at the financial level.
Under the new Article 21-A, financial institutions, payment providers, and intermediaries are required to block accounts held by irregular operators once identified by regulators. They must also stop any new transactions that would support illegal betting activity.
The law includes protections for due process. Operators whose accounts are blocked have the right to contest the decision. Bettors who are owed money by blocked operators are also entitled to reimbursement.
Fraud Sharing Systems and Pix Regulations
A key part of the law is the creation of mandatory fraud information-sharing systems. Under Article 24-A, banks and payment companies must join interoperable platforms designed to flag individuals and entities operating as unauthorized betting operators.