Argentina is a South American country with a promising gambling market. However, how the country regulates this market is rather interesting. The country has 23 provinces and each province is responsible for regulating gambling within its jurisdiction. In the case of the city of Buenos Aires, the City of Buenos Aires Gambling Regulator is the body in charge of gambling activities in the city. Or Lotería de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, which the regulator is referred to as in the local language. Regulation for this body involves monitoring suspicious anti-money laundering activities and promoting responsible gambling. GoodLuckMate reviews this regulatory body to learn which areas it covers, how to apply for a license, and how it promotes responsible gambling. Read the article→
The legality of gambling in Buenos Aires and Argentina as a whole is a hot and cold situation. But in general, the country offers opportunities for both online and land-based gambling. The legislation around gambling activities is still in the works but it’s safe to say that not all forms of gambling and betting are acceptable.
In Buenos Aires, operators are required to register with reputable regulatory bodies. In this case, the City of Buenos Aires Gambling Regulator. However, these are just but registrations. There’s not much scrutiny to describe a licensing process. Individuals don’t go through in-depth checks, with criminal record checks as the only checks performed. On top of that, the operator must be certified with a valid certifying lab for the reports offered by the labs to hold weight.
The City of Buenos Aires Gambling Regulator is an all-around regulator. That means it takes matters of gambling seriously, especially after the industry received the green light in early 2020. For that, the regulator requires operators to implement basic responsible gambling programs. These include active measures to keep off players under the age of 18 from accessing gambling platforms. Furthermore, the regulator requires operators to include self-exclusion mechanisms and helplines.
That’s not all! The gambling watchdog requires gambling operators to adhere to rules and regulations as stated in the AML-CFT regulations in Argentina. As such, these gambling platforms are required to include internal policies on AML-CFT. Some of these policies include appointing compliance officers, providing their staff with training, and performing audits. On top of that, these platforms need to include KYC policies for the payment of winnings exceeding $1,800.
The City of Buenos Aires Gambling Regulator offers players dispute resolution services. This comes after the world-renowned eCOGRA was certified by the Loteria de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (LOTBA) as a certifying laboratory in Buenos Aires. This means that if a customer on any platform regulated within the jurisdiction feels aggrieved, they can file a dispute via the regulator’s website.
As far as security goes, most of the gambling sites within the jurisdiction use SSL encryption to secure players’ data. Since the laws on online gambling are rather loose, many offshore platforms are available in this jurisdiction. This makes it difficult for the regulator to crack down on both the player and operator.