SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sweden’s new gambling regulatory authority Spelinspektionen has issued a stern warning to new online incumbents, stating that licences will be withdrawn if self-exclusion standards/policies are not met.
The Swedish regulator, which revamped its operational set-up in 2018, has stated that it will simply not tolerate operators’ disregarding Spelpaus.se ( translation – ‘game-break’) provisions, made mandatory under Sweden’s new online gambling licensing framework.
Launching Sweden’s re-regulated online gambling marketplace on 1 January 2019, Spelinspektionen was left embarrassed as news sources reported that a tenth of new online incumbents had failed to indicate Spelpaus.se self-exclusion provisions.
Issuing an immediate response, Spelinspektionen governance states that it is monitoring all new incumbents closely, demanding that they comprehensively reference Spelpaus.se, or face record penalties, suspensions, including potential license terminations.
Entering a critical 2019 for all Swedish gambling stakeholders, Spelinspektionen states that self-exclusion violations will be treated as a red-line in its regulatory capacity.
Led by Director General Camilla Rosenberg, Spelinspektionen (formerly Lotteriinspektionen) has moved to expand its operational capacity, employing a further 50 full-time employees dedicated to monitoring Sweden’s new gambling marketplace.
In November 2018, Katarina Abrahamsson Spelinspektionen Integrity & Legal Officer delivered a media presentation outlining the internal and external changes the regulatory body would undertake in 2019, restructuring Swedish gaming entirely for online and land-based verticals.
