Carlos Fonseca: "At PGS, it'll be interesting to show how the public and private sectors can collaborate towards a common interest"

Attorney Carlos Fonseca Sarmiento, partner of Fonseca Abogados LLC and specialist in gaming legislation in Peru and Latin America, will participate as a speaker in the next edition of the Peru Gaming Show (PGS), as well as in the First International Congress on Gaming Law, events to be held in the capital city of Lima.

In an interview with Yogonet, the specialist highlighted that both events will offer relevant information for all the stakeholders of the land-based and online gaming sector in Peru and Latin America, both from the commercial side, as well as the academic and legal sides.

Regarding the panel he will moderate at PGS 2024 -which will address iGaming in Peru and will include the Peruvian regulator, Yuri Guerra, and the CEO of Apuesta Total, Gonzalo Pérez-, Fonseca stated that "it will be interesting to show the public opinion the strengths of this regulated sector of the economy, and how the public and private sectors can collaborate towards a common interest."

June is a relevant month for the gaming sector in Peru, with PGS 2024 and the Gaming Law Congress. What are your expectations about the discussions that will take place in both events?

PGS 2024 is the most important event in the gaming industry in Peru and one of the main events in Latin America. It is aimed at everyone involved in this sector and has a commercial and an educational side. On the other hand, the International Law Congress, which is taking place for the first time in Latin America, is exclusively academic and legal. It is focused on law professionals and, undoubtedly, it will stimulate technical debates to improve the laws on gambling in Peru and Latin America. 

At PGS 2024, you will participate in a panel addressing the regulation of the online sector in Peru, featuring Yuri Guerra and Gonzalo Perez. What can attendees expect from the discussion?

It will be interesting to show the public the strengths of this regulated sector of the economy, and how the public and private sectors can collaborate towards a common interest, which is to guarantee the integrity of the gaming industry and promote the positive externalities that this activity can generate. The synergy of the public and private sectors is fundamental for this.

The General Directorate of Casino Games and Slot Machines is returning to the open-door policies of engineer San Roman. The current regulator, Yuri Guerra, is one of the oldest and most experienced in technical matters within MINCETUR, so we are confident that he will lead this hard work of moving from a free activity to a regulated activity in a suitable way and without creating unnecessary costs for the agents involved in this activity (laboratories, suppliers and operators), and guaranteeing the protection of the public interest.

PGS 2024 is very special since it will be the first edition to be held after the enforcement of the law that regulates remote gaming and sports betting, which took place in February of this year. There will probably be a record number of attendees most of them from abroad. Then, the eyes of the industry will be on Peru and, in this panel, the regulators Yuri Guerra and Gonzalo Perez will have the great opportunity to explain why the gaming industry in Peru is a mature, orderly, and regulated activity.

Both events take place amid the regularization process of the online sector in Peru. How much did this context influence the academic agenda of the Gaming Law Congress?

The approval of the law that regulates the exploitation of remote gaming and sports betting influenced the organization of this event, which will be carried out by the renowned Advocatus Magazine, directed by the students of the Law School of the University of Lima.

There is great expectation from lawyers and law students to learn a little more about this legal discipline which we can call "Gambling Law". And the topics to be discussed are legally relevant due to their timeliness and content. Furthermore, they will be explained by the most renowned lawyers in Latin America.

To learn about the gaming regulation process in Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia from its protagonists -such as Neil Montgomery, Carlos Portilla, Santiago Alban, and Juan Camilo Turbay- is a luxury. Listening to Tomás García Botta, who is not only a gaming lawyer but also an illustrious Argentinean tax lawyer, or Carlos Baeza, who follows in detail the discussion on gaming taxes in Chile, will be useful for all of us to know how the correct taxation of gaming should be.

There will also be presentations on the different types of gambling games. As Colombia and Peru have a great regulatory development in slot machines, these topics will be discussed by those who best know the regulation of this matter in these jurisdictions, Tatiana Vásquez and Constante Traverso. The same goes for Casino games, where two experts, Fernando Calderón, president of SONAJA of Peru, and Jaime Rivera, former director of the Gaming Commission of Puerto Rico, will shed light on one of the most glamorous gambling games.

Another game that needs to be studied in depth is the lottery, where there are not many experts, and for this purpose, Sergio Poves, lawyer of La Tinka, and Agustín Díaz from Argentina will be present. For a very current topic, such as remote games, Juan Camilo Carrasco, for whom this topic is his daily work in Colombia, and Augusto Paulet, who participated in the first drafts of the Peruvian law, will share a lot of useful information.

There is an issue of great importance for this sector, which appears as a justification for many regulations of this activity: the guarantee of the integrity of the gaming industry. And for this, we have Gonzalo Perez, CEO of Apuesta Total, one of the most activist businessmen of the sector, who will share the vision of the businessman in the social responsibility of this activity, and our great friend Karen Sierra, who besides being a lawyer, is one of the main promoters of the guarantees of fair gaming through the certification of technical standards. The table is set for those who want to learn more about gambling law.

Relevant markets in the region, many of them in the process of regulation, will also be discussed. What will the focus of the discussions be?

We have the opportunity to know from their protagonists the regulation process of the main markets in Latin America, which is why there will be specific conferences on what happened and what is currently happening in Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. As well as on the different categories of gambling games, national and international experts will give their points of view on the most controversial aspects of their regulation.