A vote on gaming legislation in Brazil probably won't occur until the spring, at the earliest.
As we wrote about in our 12/18/09 post, "SIZING UP THE BRAZIL OPPORTUNITY", the Brazilian federal government is considering gaming legislation. The proposed legislation, Bill No. 270/03, would legalize licensed bingo and electronic gaming machines and allow for gaming parlors with 20-40 devices in some of Brazil's larger cities and a maximum number of 75 devices per location in Sao Paulo. We believe the market could be at least 40,000 machines
In mid-September 2009, a draft version of Bill 270/03 passed in the Chamber of Deputies by a 40-to-7 vote. The Bill is now awaiting debate and vote in the lower house of the Brazilian Congress. While the Bill was given the green light to go to floor a few weeks ago, it appears that the debate has been delayed because of a provision dealing with the retirement age of public servants that was tacked onto Bill 270/03. There may be other issues since we are now hearing no vote until the spring, at the earliest.
The October presidential election is the key time frame. Our sources indicate the likelihood of a successful vote diminishes post election.
