Chile’s casino regulator faces leadership vacancies amid key industry decisions

Chile’s Superintendency of Casinos of Gaming has operated without a permanent head for around six months and is facing additional senior vacancies, just as the regulator handles major casino licensing processes and prepares for a possible expansion of its responsibilities into online betting.

Chile’s Superintendency of Casinos of Gaming (SCJ) is facing a period of institutional transition after spending approximately six months without a permanently appointed superintendent. Vivien Villagrán, who had led the regulator since 2017, left the position in February 2026 after completing the maximum period allowed under Chile’s Senior Public Management system. The SCJ is currently headed on an interim basis by Eduardo Cáceres Guzmán, previously head of its Supervision Division.

The process to select Villagrán’s permanent replacement is being conducted through Chile’s National Civil Service Directorate, but the appointment has yet to be completed. The superintendent plays a central role in directing the regulator, issuing regulatory instructions, imposing sanctions and proposing the granting, renewal or revocation of casino operating permits to the SCJ’s Resolutive Council.

The leadership gap is being compounded by changes in other strategic departments. Carlos Arriagada left his position as head of the Authorisations Division in May after completing the maximum term permitted under the public-management system. Manuel Zárate, head of the Legal Division, is also expected to complete his term in September. The SCJ has said it has adopted measures to maintain institutional continuity and that regulatory, supervisory and sanctioning functions continue to operate normally.

The timing is particularly sensitive because the regulator is currently overseeing several commercially significant casino licensing processes. Permits are being awarded for Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar and Pucón, with the presentation of technical and economic bids scheduled for August 11. The SCJ confirmed at the end of July that those procedures would continue according to schedule after Chile’s Competition Tribunal rejected requests to suspend them.

The Viña del Mar process in particular has generated litigation before the Competition Tribunal, while requests to suspend all four licensing procedures were also rejected. The SCJ therefore remains responsible for evaluating applicants, reviewing their financial resources and technical proposals and eventually presenting recommendations to the Resolutive Council. Under the regulator’s procedures, technical evaluations can take up to 120 business days following the submission of bids.

A separate licensing process is also underway for Puerto Varas. Two applicants — Inversiones y Turismo Puerto Varas and Sociedad Quiquilhue — submitted technical and economic offers in January, adding another major concession decision to the regulator’s workload.

Despite the personnel changes, the SCJ has continued advancing other areas of regulation. On July 30, it issued a new joint circular with Chile’s Financial Analysis Unit covering anti-money-laundering, terrorist-financing and proliferation-financing controls for the country’s 25 licensed casinos. The updated rules introduce a risk-based approach, stronger customer due diligence and expanded compliance-governance requirements, and are scheduled to take effect on October 1.

The regulator could also face a substantially broader mandate if Chile approves its long-running legislation to regulate online betting platforms. The proposal envisages expanding the SCJ’s responsibilities to supervise the digital market and transforming it into a wider authority covering casinos, betting and games of chance. That would add a new licensing and supervisory sector to an institution that is already managing significant land-based casino processes.

The vacancies do not mean that Chile’s casino regulation has stopped functioning: the SCJ remains operational, current tender processes are continuing and new compliance rules are being introduced. However, the absence of permanent leadership in several key positions comes at a moment when decisions taken by the regulator could shape major casino concessions for years to come.

Filling the vacant senior posts would therefore provide greater institutional certainty for both operators and public authorities. The issue could become even more important if Chile advances with online gambling regulation, as the SCJ may soon need to manage a significantly larger and more technically demanding market while simultaneously completing some of the country’s most important casino licensing decisions.