New Licenses Issued by the Swedish Regulator

The Swedish gaming regulatory agency Lotteriinspektionen announced last week that 26 additional gaming licenses had been issued.

These online and land-based approvals represent the last batch of licenses to be issued before the end of the year.

Getting Ready for the Kick-Off of the New Market

This means the companies who received the licenses will be completely ready to start their operations on January 1, 2019, when the country’s re-regulated and liberalised gambling market officially goes live.

The list of newly approved licensees includes some of the biggest names in the online gambling industry, such as 888 Holdings, Betfair, Finland-based operator PAF, as well as local company Cherry AB. The latter will be present in its home market with a total of eight brands.

Following the latest round of approvals, the number of operators that have the license to operate in the Swedish market stands at 57, which means only a couple of them to remain available for those interested in doing business in this country.

Commenting on the number of licensees, Lotteriinspektionen director-general Camilla Rosenberg pointed out it was gratifying to know that punters in Sweden would have a wide array of online options in the new year.

No More Temporary Licenses

According to a press statement made by Loteriinspektionen last week, no more new licenses will be issued in 2018, but the gambling watchdog made it clear the process would continue after the turn of the year.

The press statement said there were several applications under review at the moment, but also points out that it wouldn’t issue any temporary licenses to those operators whose applications might require additional consideration.

It was also revealed that the Administrative Court in Linköping had rejected the appeal of the country’s new gambling laws, filed by the Swedish football governing body, Svenska Fotbollförbundet.

The county’s football association wanted to control the types of betting markets offered by the operators, but the court reached a decision there were no faults with the current rules. Although the FA can appeal this ruling, it is still unknown whether it will opt to do so.

In addition to all of this, Lotteriinspektionen revealed its proposal regarding the future gambling exclusion registry.