In a new installment of their analysis on the current political situation of the gambling sector in Mexico, attorneys Alfredo Lazcano and Andrea Avedillo, of the law firm Lazcano Sámano S.C., focus on the actions of the Secretariat of the Interior (SEGOB) regarding the problem of gambling.
Part 3: Awaiting a new law
Let us recall once again the actions that the Secretariat of the Interior (SEGOB) committed itself to undertake regarding gaming and lotteries during the present Administration, to which we referred to in Part 2 of the present series. In this third installment, we will focus on the fact that the SEGOB has established as a priority action “to develop and propose a project of Reform to the Federal Law of Gaming and Sweepstakes and its Regulations, which considers technological progress and social changes.”
Unfortunately, to date, the SEGOB has not developed or proposed any reform project to the Federal Law of Gaming and Sweepstakes and its Regulations, which contemplates the enormous progress in technology and the continuous evolution of society that has occurred since the current Mexican legal framework was conceived in the first half of the 20th century.
Less than six months before the end of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s six-year term, we have seen how General Directors of Gaming and Lotteries come and go, which, in itself, instills instability and lack of direction for our sector, besides contravening the best international practices that regulate certain permanency and professionalization of the regulatory entity.
For example, between 2018 and 2019, the first director, Dr. Juan Gabriel Coutiño Gómez, worked diligently on a “Proposal for a new Federal Law on Gaming and Sweepstakes” that would regulate in a comprehensive and updated manner land-based and online gaming. At that time, it seemed an excellent start for the incoming presidential cabinet of López Obrador; however, the truth is that, unfortunately, the proposal never made it out of the SEGOB, let alone being discussed in the Congress of the Union.
Another case worth remembering dates back to the beginning of the year 2021. The third director, Ms. Alma Itzel de Lira Castillo, was open to dialogue and willing to collaborate through the organization of the symposium “Innovation in the Gaming and Lottery Sector, the Proposal of a New Federal Law”. However, even though, as its name indicates, the objective of such a symposium was to discuss the pressing issues of the sector to design the draft gaming law, it never became a reality.
Moreover, in August 2021, a draft of “Guidelines on Gaming and Sweepstakes, and any activity involving betting” was submitted to the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement, which not only did not resolve the concerns raised by members of the gaming industry but seemed to aggravate them. Although we believe that the intention was commendable, unfortunately, the results were not beneficial to anyone.
Regarding the other gaming regulators, it is enough to make a quick search on the Internet to read the headlines of the news that bear their names (for example, Manuel Marcué Díaz) and realize that their commitment as head of the General Directorate of Gaming and Sweepstakes was not precisely the modernization of the legal framework that regulates this activity.
Finally, the current director, Mr. Leonardo Manuel Figueroa Martínez, with only a few months of experience in the position, apparently led the project of the Decree through which the Gaming Regulation was reformed. There is no need to point out that not only has no attempt been made to reform the Law or its Regulations as determined in the Sectorial Program of the Government, but that instead of having a regulation that “considers technological progress and social changes”, we would have returned to a regulatory situation reminiscent of 1947.
Let us hope that in the remaining months of work, we will be able to have a reform project per the reality of the sector that, on the one hand, respects the most elementary human freedoms such as the right to free development of our individuality (for those people who seek to be entertained with the Mexican gaming offer) and the freedom of trade or work (for those entrepreneurs or workers of this activity that contributes economically to the country), and, on the other hand, reflects the world trend to allow the realization of games with bets using effective regulation.