“Effective enforcement against illegality without national boundaries” was the theme of a panel discussion held on 08 April as part of BiS SiGMA South America 2026. With each passing year, tackling illegal activity requires more coordinated action from the industry and new enforcement mechanisms. What solutions are experts proposing in this environment? We break it down in our report.
Who took part in the discussion
- Fernanda Batistella, Partner & Attorney at Maia Yoshiyasu Advogados. She specialises in civil disputes, contracts and consumer law.
- Leonardo de Carvalho, Lawyer & Compliance Officer at LC Advogados Associados. He focuses on anti-money laundering, financial transparency and anti-corruption systems.
- Eliane Nunes, Head of Revenue & Commercial Growth at Atucha Strategic Advisory (ASA). Eliane began her career as a conference producer for the gaming segment and later worked on helping game providers and aggregators adapt to Brazil’s regulated market.
- Susan Bala, Director at ACT – Advanced Compliance Technology. She represents the compliance and sports-integrity technology segment: ACT is positioned as a platform for fraud prevention, sports-industry protection and geolocation control.
- Witoldo Hendrich Júnior, President of ABRAJOGO, an inclusive association focused on supporting integration processes, shaping the regulatory framework and driving growth in Brazil’s iGaming and betting market.
The illegal market is multi-layered
From the outset, speakers made a key point: the illegal market is not a single problem, but a bundle of parallel violations. It includes unregulated operators, clones of certified games, mirrors of legal websites, fraudulent redirects, bonus abuse, bot usage, and even attempts by players themselves to manipulate systems and later pursue claims in court. In other words, this is not one “grey zone”, but a fully fledged alternative infrastructure that undermines trust in the sector from multiple directions.
That is why the panel argued illegal activity must be understood more broadly. Eliane Nunes spoke about clones of popular games that replicate the look and mechanics of legal products while bypassing certification and oversight. Leonardo de Carvalho added that the market also faces cloned operator sites – where users see what looks like the same platform, but are pulled into an unregulated environment.
The illegal market is a weed that keeps growing and needs to be trimmed regularly.
The central takeaway was that the illegal market does not disappear after a single measure, because it is multi-layered and adapts quickly.
Why blocking alone is no longer enough
Fighting the illegal market through blocking alone is not viable. Susan Bala stressed that unregulated platforms do not operate in a vacuum. They rely on payment providers, domains, customer support, distribution channels and marketing – an ecosystem without which the business cannot function. That is why hitting the storefront does not solve the problem. One site gets blocked, mirrors and new domains appear, and user traffic continues to flow into the grey segment.
Without robust technology, strict enforcement, and real accountability, the illegal market will only continue to flourish.
The panel’s point was that the industry needs a system in which technological monitoring, payment-rail interventions, enforcement, and international cooperation work simultaneously.
The state, speakers argued, should strengthen measures against illegal operators while also reinforcing and protecting the regulated segment. In this framing, illegal activity shrinks only when legal operators feel protected and remain competitive.
How regulatory burden can fuel the grey segment
Another key thesis was that the illegal market grows not only because penalties are weak, but also because the legal environment can become self-defeating. Fernanda Batistella and Susan Bala argued that excessive restrictions, rising taxes and growing compliance burdens can, at some point, work against the goal of legalisation. If a licensed operator cannot offer a competitive product, is limited in bonuses, carries increasing costs and constantly faces new prohibitions, part of the audience will inevitably migrate to spaces with fewer barriers.
The speakers were direct: if the regulated segment cannot compete on the quality of experience, players will still drift into the grey zone.
The more excessive regulation constrains business, the harder it becomes to build a civilised and sustainable market.
The message for the industry is that stability cannot be achieved through bans alone if legal operators feel the space for fair competition is shrinking.
Why the legal sector must protect its reputation
The panel’s closing segment moved beyond technology and law. Speakers acknowledged that the regulated sector is losing not only in enforcement capacity but also in public perception. The industry, they said, does not yet communicate clearly enough what it brings to society — jobs, tax revenues, a professional ecosystem, responsible gambling tools, and a safer environment for users. When that message is weak, the vacuum is filled by TV soundbites, moral panic and broad suspicion towards the entire sector.
If you treat business as an enemy, you simply lose all the benefits it can bring.
The regulated market, the panel concluded, cannot strengthen if it is seen only as a source of risk. To make the market sustainable, three lines of work must run in parallel: protecting the legal sector from illegal activity, building a reasonable regulatory environment, and communicating the sector’s value to society. Without all three, the fight for a civilised market remains unfinished.
Manila’s calling and it’s not whispering. From 01 to 03 June 2026, SiGMA Asia returns to the undisputed regional heavyweight. With 16,000 delegates, 3,040 operators, and 250+ speakers under one roof, this isn’t just an expo. It’s ignition. Join the region’s ultimate event!
