A long-running investigation into one of Brazil’s largest banks, Caixa Econômica Federal, regarding pool lottery operations, is entering its final phase.
Caixa Econômica Federal is a state-owned bank, the fourth largest bank in the country, and since 1962 has been the sole operator of Brazil’s nationwide lottery, the CAIXA Loterias.
However, it has been under investigation by the Administrative Council for Economic Defence (Cade) for allegedly abusing its monopoly position in the lottery space.
According to the Estadão news outlet, Cade’s investigation – open since early 2025 – is now nearing its end, and a judgement on Caxai’s lottery monopoly and rights could be expected soon.
What is Caixa accused of?
The federal bank has been under investigation for allegedly using betting intermediation platforms to conduct its business.
Under Caixa’s remit as exclusive operator of the Brazilian federal lottery, as set out by terms dictated by government bodies like the Ministry of Finance, it cannot work with third-party intermediaries.
These third party platforms function by acting on behalf of clients before directing bettors towards the official, Caixa-run system.
As reported by SBC Noticias Brasil, Caixa presented Cade with revenue data from its lottery operations for 2024 two weeks ago. This information is now being processed in the final stage of the investigation.
This data could be used to calculate a potential fine against the federal bank. The firm has apparently declared revenue of over R$262m (£38m) from its lottery operations according to Estadão.
As the investigation relates to antitrust violations, the penalty could range from 0.1% to 20% of gross revenue.
Caixa and the Brazilian lottery system
Whether or not the investigation could have wider implications is anyone’s guess.
The prospect of a national lottery operator being fined is a rare one in contrast to fines against betting and gaming operators, although regulatory infractions at national lottery operators are not uncommon.
On the other side of the Atlantic, for example, the online sportsbook division of the Nederlandse Loterij, TOTO Online, was cautioned last week over its sports marketing activity.
In Brazil, the investigation into Caixa comes amid wider political scrutiny of the licensed gambling sector, which has grown exponentially over the past year ever since the regulation of the market under the Bets Law on 1 January 2025.
Caixa was for a time considering launching itsonline betting and gaming preposition, but put these plans on hold in April this year.
While the conversations around gaming in Brazil largely focus on betting and gaming, which president Lula da Silva has expressed a lot of frustration with, discussions around lottery regulation do take place too.
A hot topic of conversation is the municipal lottery ecosystem, which some stakeholders – and federal judges – disagree with due to these local lotteries often overlapping with both the federal system and state lotteries.