Ecuador National Assembly approves a norm that legalizes games of chance

The text legalizes casinos, gambling venues, bingo halls, slots and horse racetracks,  pawnshops, traders of jewels, precious metals and gem stones, antique shops and work of art. All these business will have to inform about their activities to the Financial Analysis Unit (UAF) their reports of deposits.

The text was approved despite last June 23 President Rafael Correa announced that he aims to ban games of chance completely as well as the national casinos. “We will declare Ecuador a country free of games of chance; we are already preparing the appropriate legal reform”, said the president at that moment. Some congressmen expect a veto from the president on this issue.

The norm approved has the aim to detect the property, ownership, possession, use, offer, sale, domestic trade and foreign trade, transference, conversion and traffic of assets for the application of sanctions.

The text also determines mechanisms to discover activities related to the asset laundering, as well as to seize illegal products and recover those products from crimes committed in the Ecuadorian territory and abroad.

The articulated establishes that all those who know the crimes typifyed will inform the corresponding authorities and the Unit of Financial Analysis (UAF), understanding as unusual and unjustified economic operations or transactions those economic transactions that do not correspond with the profile of the one that develops them and cannot support them.

Institutions from the financial system will be able to require and registrar all the necessary data from their permanent or ocasional customers. The record will include the certification of the legal existence, capacity to operate, list of partners or shareholders, amounts of the shares or participations, among other documents that will allow to establish an economic activity.

The Board of Directors of the National Council against the asset laundering will be comprised by the State Prosecutor, the President of the National Court of Justice, the General Attorney and the Director of the UAF.

Besides, delegates of the Superintendentes of Banks and Compañies, the Director of the Internal Revenue Service, General Manager of the Ecuadorian Custom Corporation and General Commander in Chief of the National Police.

The state will suscribe and ratify international agreements to contribute to the prevention and detection of this crime.