ATG: give lighter sanctions to operators who admit mistakes
Hasse Lord Skarplöth, CEO of ATG, says regulators who admit mistakes instead of fighting sanctions should be rewarded.
Sweden.- The CEO of the Swedish horseracing betting operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) has called for the national regulator to give lighter sanctions to operators who admit wrongdoing.
Hasse Lord Skarplöth noted that out of 46 interventions from the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, in the last two years, four corresponded to ATG.
They included recent sanctions for breaching rules on illegal bonus offers and Sweden’s temporary cap on online casino deposits.
Skarplöth said that ATG had been sanctioned for mistakes that it had voluntarily reported to the regulator of its own accord, while other operators had avoided reporting their failings and even appealed against sanctions when they were issued.
However, Skarplöth said that Spelinspektionen has made it clear that it will not offer leniency to companies that self report breaches of regulations.
The CEO has called for an alternative to the process of a company being sanctioned and then appealing the decision.
He said: “It is not my business to question what lies behind an appeal. However, I think a lot about what is the most effective way to a healthy gaming market.
“I sincerely believe that it would be better to encourage gaming companies to self-report and give the action the weight it deserves in calculating fines.”
He said that ATG would continue to self-report regardless of the outcome.
He said: “Everyone benefits from the improvement of the gaming market and one thing is for sure: ATG will continue to draw the authority’s attention to whether any wrongdoing has been committed with us, sanction discount or not.”
His views come as the Swedish Court of Appeal rejected an appeal from Spelinspektionen against the quashing of an injunction it had issued against Kindred’s Spooniker for allowing players to circumvent online casino deposit limits.
Spooniker and ATG were both sanctioned for similar alleged breaches. While ATG accepted its wrongdoing, Kindred appealed and won the case.
Swedish horserace betting operator ATG reports Q1 revenue up by 11%
ATG reported that its Q1 revenue rose 11 per cent year-on-year to SEK1.46bn (€144.2m).
Net gaming revenue came in at SEK1.27bn with agent revenue contributing SEK64m and other revenue the remainder.
The majority of revenue came from Sweden – SEK1.04bn from horseracing betting and SEK129m from sports betting.
Casino gaming contributed SEK60m, down 23.1 per cent year-on-year as a result of Sweden’s temporary deposit cap on online casino gaming.
The numbers mark a solid start to the year after ATG reported record net revenue of SEK5.35bn (€525.7m) for 2020.
CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth said: “Now that we are entering the second quarter, we will most likely see a break in the trend regarding ATG’s percentage growth in comparison with last year.
“The competitive situation in 2021, where the range of sports betting is now in full swing, is completely different compared to a year ago when sport basically stood still.”
