Europe

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Zafirov has said that the country’s Eurozone entry will deal a blow to the gambling black market.

Speaking to various shareholders at the National Information Centre, Zafirov commented that Bulgaria’s pending accession to the Eurozone next year will help shine more light on the illicit cash flows running through the unregulated gambling sector.

The Minister further added that gambling harm has become a significant threat to the population of the former Eastern Bloc country, and therefore should be treated as a national security issue.

Building stability
Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, and opened up its borders and markets even more at the start of this year by joining the Schengen zone.

The increased ease of travel, and especially international trade, as a result of both has made the country more appealing not only to legitimate businesses but to bad actors as well – including those from the illegal gambling sector.

However, the country has exhumed confidence in building up a security perimeter against such parties on more than one occasion.

Bulgaria’s national gambling regulator, led by Director General Rumen Spetsov, has spearheaded the battle against offshore operators time and again.

In previous interviews for SBC News, Spetsov has often given examples of how the regulator is fending off the black market by keeping a close watch on the regulated market and subjecting it to strict rules.

This will more than likely continue to be the case even after Bulgaria joins the Eurozone next year, given the comprehensive regulatory frameworks that countries using the Euro as currency need to abide by.

Even more, Bulgaria will be able to take a more active role in supporting the EU’s fight against black market operators, providing valuable feedback and sharing good practices with partnering international stakeholders.

The country has previously criticised the EU’s lack of a unified framework which collectively flags down illegal gambling operators for all nations on the continent.

Aligning itself closer to Brussels through the Eurozone might unlock more opportunities for Bulgaria to lead such an initiative in the future.

Norway’s media platforms and broadcasters have been reminded of their duties to prevent the unlicensed gambling advertising.

Lotteritilsynet (Lottstift), the Gambling Authority of Norway, has written to the country’s seven main media houses, instructing them to tighten surveillance of gambling adverts towards the end of May.

The warning comes as Lottstift anticipates heightened public interest in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, combined with the final stages of UEFA’s football tournaments (Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League).

The Norwegian government permits gambling only through two authorised operators: Norsk Tipping, for general games, and Norsk Rikstoto, for horse racing.

The letter was issued to support Norwegian media outlets in making informed decisions about their coverage of gambling operators, brand promotions, illegal gambling websites, and programmatic advertising channels.

Under Norway’s Advertising Act, media organisations are required to evaluate all gambling-related content and advertisements, including editorial references, automated promotions, and third-party promotional links.

Lottstift warned media operators that improper implementation of filtering systems to detect marketing by unlicensed operators could constitute a violation of the Gambling Act. It further noted concern over the increasing sophistication of programmatic advertising, which has shown an ability to bypass standard content filters.

To maintain compliance, media have been urged to review contracts with content and advertising partners to ensure provisions prohibiting links to or the promotion of unlicensed gambling operators are included.

Media companies are also expected to carry out regular audits of ad-tech filters and algorithmic tools to ensure that illegal gambling content is effectively blocked.

The regulators emphasised that even indirect promotion — such as linking to background sources that host affiliate material — may still be deemed unlawful under Norwegian legislation.

Media outlets are therefore expected to apply due diligence not only to advertisements but also to third-party content and external contributors.

Following years of legal deliberations, in the summer of 2022, the High Court in Oslo ruled in favour of Lottstift and Medietilsynet, Norway’s Media Authority, enabling them to strengthen enforcement against media platforms promoting unlicensed gambling websites.

This intervention followed international media claims that gambling advertisements were being broadcast to Norwegian audiences via cable and OTT networks accessible in the country, circumventing domestic advertising restrictions.

The Gambling Authority stated that it will continue to monitor the situation and expects full cooperation from media organisations, concluding: “We urge media houses to be especially vigilant against attempts to bypass ad filters, and to assess whether these systems are sufficiently effective at detecting illegal gambling advertisements. Failure to prevent such content may result in sanctions.”

Spooniker, a subsidiary operator of the French gambling giant FDJ United’s Kindred Group, has been hit with a SEK 10m (£778k) penalty in Sweden.

In a statement posted on its website, the Swedish regulator, Spelinspektionen, explained that Spooniker – a former Kindred brand but now part of FDJ after the French company acquired Kindred – has been found lacking sufficient customer due diligence procedures.

As per the statement, Spooniker had failed to identify the exact source of funds being processed through its systems, leading to potential exploits from bad actors.

“They have not been able to determine whether the customers’ activities were legitimate or whether they posed a risk of money laundering or terrorist financing,” Spelinspektionen’s statement added.

Repeat offences
From a glance, the penalty fee might look extraordinarily high. However, this is because the Swedish regulator sees Spooniker – the operator of domains such as unibet.se and bingo.se – as a repeat offender.

Deficiencies were first identified by Spelinspektionen in 2022, after which a follow-up supervision review took place in 2024 to see how Spooniker has addressed the shortcomings.

Spooniker provided a detailed view into its risk classification system for customers, each one needing to register with an electronic identity verification (Bank-ID) under Sweden’s gambling framework.

And while the firm has asserted that its origin of funds verification is on par with standards during the regulator’s preliminary review, the penalty remains a fact. A leading factor was the review of a number of customers using Spooniker’s services.

The regulator wrote: “Spelinspektionen notes that all customers reviewed have made deposits totaling between approximately SEK 620,000 and SEK 830,000 during the review period.

“Apart from information on taxable income being collected on one occasion, no further measures are taken for these customers, despite the fact that they deposit between the entire taxable annual income and SEK 340,000 more than the taxable annual income.”

Signed off by Spelinspektionen’s Director General, Camilla Rosenberg, the report concluded: “The deficiencies are serious and repeated. The Swedish Gambling Authority considers that the penalty fee is proportionate to the seriousness of the violations.”