Swedish Regulator Issues Final Warning to Operators

Sweden’s gambling watchdog Spelinspektionen has once again issued a warning to all licensed online gaming operators doing business in the country that it will start issuing strict fines to all those who fail to comply with license conditions.

Apart from financial penalties, the regulator warned it could cancel licenses, even without previous warning.

Spelinspektionen added it had received numerous complaints about the licensees’ conduct, and pointed out this was the final warning.

Numerous Complaints

These failing mostly relate to the requirement for operators to check their players against Sweden’s self-exclusion register at Spelpaus.se. Although a warning about the necessity to comply with these requirements was issued last week, a number of operators have continued to send promotional material to self-excluded players.

Swedish regulator added there was a number of complaints regarding the design of certain websites and the information they provided. All operators are required to display all necessary information related to responsible gaming on their websites and provide links to all relevant bodies on each and every page of the site they run.

Spelinspektionen has once again promised to take swift action against all those who fail to comply with this license condition. In addition to fines that can go up to 10% of the operator’s turnover, the regulator can even cancel the operator’s license if the violation of the regulation continues.

Compliance Is the Key

According to Spelinspektionen, the goal of the re-regulation of the Swedish market launched on January 1, 2019, was to chase away unlicensed operators from offering their services to players in Sweden. The regulator pointed out that all licensees needed to comply with regulations, as this was crucial in having a successful market.

The gambling watchdog repeated it would not issue any more warnings regarding this issue and would issue harsh penalties, and even revoke the license without any previous notice.

In related news, Lottomatrix has become the latest operator to receive online betting and license. Following the approval of applications made by Dreambox Games, Ellmount Gaming, Legolas Invest, LeoVegas’ esports joint venture Pixel Digital and More Tech Group, the Jackpot.com has become the 66th entity granted a license by Spelinspektionen.