The Administrative Council for Economic Defense Maintains Preventive Against Caixa in Investigation Into Betting Intermediation Platforms

The entity alleges that Caixa would be using its dominant position and regulatory power over activities related to lottery games to prevent lotteries from maintaining commercial relationships with online intermediation platforms.

BRAZIL (October 11, 2023) — The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) maintained this Wednesday, 11th, a preventive measure applied in August against Caixa Econômica Federal , in an investigation that investigates alleged violations of the economic order in the lottery games market involving the institution and the Brazilian Federation of Lottery Companies (Febralot). The investigation began after a provocation made by the Association of Digital Lottery Games Intermediaries (Aidiglot).

The entity alleges that Caixa would be using its dominant position and regulatory power over activities related to lottery games to prevent lotteries from maintaining commercial relationships with online intermediation platforms. The entity also says that Caixa and Febralot would have promoted “defamatory” campaigns against these platforms in order to make their activities unfeasible.

In light of these complaints, in August, Cade’s General Superintendence preventively determined that Caixa should refrain from applying sanctions to lottery units for a mere commercial relationship with online intermediation platforms. The measure also forced the financial institution to stop speaking publicly in a way that attributed or suggested an illegal nature to the economic activity carried out by the platforms.

As a result, he ordered Caixa to remove from its website any communications opposing the platforms that had already been published. A similar determination was also addressed to Febralot, mainly regarding the publication of communications in this regard on its portal.

Case rapporteur, counselor Gustavo Augusto pointed out this Wednesday that, in the background of the process, there is the discussion about whether the betting intermediation market, carried out by these platforms, would be a legal activity or not.

Caixa and Febralot claim that the practice would be illegal, while the platforms claim that it is an activity whose market is not regulated. The counselor drew attention, however, that the Federal Police itself has already concluded that there is no crime in this practice and that, even so, Caixa continued to publicize this thesis – which could even amount to slander.

“It seems to me that we have platforms bringing innovative models and we have an incumbent sector fighting to maintain a monopoly”, said Gustavo Augusto, highlighting that the process does not deal with online betting games, but with intermediation platforms. Although the analysis is still preliminary, the advisor also warned that, in this case, there is the possibility of committing three infractions against the economic order, including limiting or preventing access to new companies in the market.

Among other clarifications, Gustavo Augusto noted that the preventive measure does not mean that Caixa cannot provide clarifications to the public, such as in relation to the absence of a contract with mediation platforms. The institution cannot, however, attribute any illegality to the activity carried out by these platforms.

SOURCE: Época Negócios.