SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Kindred Group has stated that it is ‘confident’ that the Lottstift’s – the Norwegian Gambling Authority (NGA) – ‘coercive fines’ against it cannot be enforced outside of Norway.
The international gambling group, founded in Sweden but headquartered in Malta, will uphold its challenge to the fine in court, adding that it will also continue to ‘passively accept’ Norwegian customers.
Imposed in February, the Lottstift coercive fines began after it informed Kindred’s Trannel International subsidiary that it would have to exit Norway or face daily penalties of NOK 1.2m (€120,000). 
The NGA estimated at the time of the initial announcement that Trannel was generating NOK 437m (€43m) from unlicensed operations in Norway.
In response, Kindred states that Trannel has implemented a raft of changes to its operations in order to clarify that it is not targeting Norwegian customers.
These have included changing the language on its sites and marketing campaigns from Norwegian to English, removing national flags from websites and channels, and changing the branding of the Storspiller operator to a non-Norwegian name.
The firm also asserted that it has discontinued all advertising and marketing activities in the Norwegian language and no longer provides Norwegian-language customer services.
However, the NGA continues to assert that Kindred’s subsidiary is targeting consumers in the country without a licence and maintains its fines – Kindred has argued that as Trannel is a Maltese-based business, the NGA has no jurisdiction over it.
“Trannel firmly disagrees with the NGA’s assessment as it is fully legal for Norwegian residents to access and use international gambling services, which are licensed in the EU/EEA area and offered within a safe and secure environment, Kindred will continue to passively accept customers residing in Norway,” the group’s statement explained.
“The NGA does not have jurisdiction over Trannel as the company is domiciled in Malta and duly licensed by the Maltese Gaming Authority. Therefore, Kindred is confident that the coercive fine cannot be enforced by the NGA outside of Norway.”
Kindred is currently applying for an NGA gaming licence, stating that it wishes to ‘be an active part of Norwegian society and contribute through taxes, investment in sports, supporting NGOs and research institutes’.
