Europe

Svenska Spel Sport & Casino AB has been given a warning and a penalty fee of SEK 100m (€8.7m) by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling inspectorate, for duty of care failures.

In response, Fredrik Wastenson, Svenska Spel Sport & Casino’s President and Business Area Manager, has stated that the operator does not share the same opinion as the authority and will be considering whether to appeal the decision.

In its report, Spelinspektionen noted that it began an audit of Svenska Spel’s operations on December 21, 2021, investigating how the operator complies with the Swedish Gambling Act’s duty of care.

The authority reviewed how Svenska Spel handled ten customers who lost the most money during the supervision period of October 17, 2021, to December 17, 2021.

In terms of the violation, Spelinspektionen declared that all customers during the audit period showed signs of excessive gambling; there was a lack of protection, follow-up and help to reduce gambling; and that the operator didn’t..

Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, has issued a warning and a penalty fee of SEK 300,000 (€26,000) to Yggdrasil Gaming for non-compliance with regulations related to licensed supplier services/authorisations.

The regulator has stated that, through its investigations into unlicensed gaming websites on January 16, 2024, it determined that Yggdrasil had provided gaming software to an operator who didn’t have the necessary Swedish licence to operate in the country.

Within its report, Spelinspektionen said that it was told by Yggdrasil that the supplier had “internal flaws” within its monitoring system of dealer agreements which caused the violation and that it had promptly removed its games and other assets from the operator in question by January 23, 2024.

Spelinspektionen determined that the violation was “serious” and that Yggdrasil could have their licence revoked, but a warning was deemed “sufficient” as the regulator believes the supplier will conduct business goin..

The Swedish government has instructed Spelinspektionen – the country’s gambling authority –to analyse the risks of gambling accounts being used for money laundering and other criminal activities.

The Swedish gambling regulator noted that if there is a need, it must create proposals to counteract such activity, including providing a breakdown of socio-economic consequences.

In addition, Spelinspektionen has also been asked to see if gambling accounts should be covered by the account and safe deposit box system – Konto- och värdefackssystemet – and what would happen if such accounts were added to the system.

The account and safe deposit box system allows authorities to quickly identify accounts and safe holders at financial firms. This is achieved through the Swedish Tax Agency’s technical platform Mekanismen, which allows authorities to directly and immediately receive information about accounts and safe deposit boxes at credit and investment companies.

Earlier this month, Spelinspe..