“The international trend is to have a single regulator for the gambling sector”

Would the Casino Superintendence be the organ to regulate popular slots?

Francisco Leiva: Our proposal requires a specialized organization with technical, legal and operational knowledge, as the Casino Superintendence. We propose the expansion of its field of competence, to become a Gambling Commission, as it occurs in US and Spain, to be in charge of the regulation of casinos, slots, horse racing, sportsbooks and online gambling. The international trend is to have a single regulator for the gambling sector. It doesn’t have much sense to create a new institution.

One of the goals is that recreational machines with programmed prizes are online with the casino controller to avoid tax evasion. 

So, Why do you think this type of proposals is obstructed if the aim is to avoid fraud? 
Sebastian Salazar: The legal proposal we are promoting suggests that machines have to be connected in real time with the regulator, which guarantees many issues related to the gambling industry, such the compliance of the payment of prizes within the legal frame. On the other hand, it guarantees that the equipment used complies with the homogenization required by the operating market. This proposal also facilitates the control for the regulator (Chile Casino Superintendence) and for the Tax authority. This way, tax evasion is avoided and it also guarantees the property rights of manufacturers and developers of gambling systems, We now see important political changes that have to do with a growing need of citizens feeling that they live in a more equal country. Societies mature, and it is expressed through different norms that tend to rule aspects that remained repressed or just in a status quo, as is the case of popular slots in Chile.

So one must wonder why. What I mean to say is that, we are behind development, but development has to be undertaken protected by a special law to regulate its operation. Of course there are particular interests of those that are affected by the operation of this market, but the particular position of those who operate in the industry is indefensible. There are thousands of citizens in the country that depend on this activity and that are protected by a special law that could enable them to develop high-quality. We need ventures which comply with international standards that rule this industry on the different compared markets worldwide.