Court slashes another fine issued by Swedish gambling regulator

The Administrative Court has cut a fine that the Swedish gambling regulator issued against Kindred’s Spooniker last year.

Sweden.- The Administrative Court in Linköping has halved a penalty fee issued by the gambling regulator Spelinspektionen against Kindred for breaches of rules on bonuses.

The regulator had issued Spooniker with a penalty fee of SEK100m (€9.9m) along with a warning in March last year after finding it had offered unauthorised bonuses and unlicensed lottery games as promotions.

Kindred argued that the campaigns were not bonuses but rather an in-game mechanic and appealed against the fine.

Swedish gaming licensees may offer just one bonus to players, and only when they first sign up for an account. 

However, in March 2019, Spelinspektionen found that Kindred’s Unibet, Maria Casino, Storspelare, Bingo and iGame sites were offering a range of bonuses such as an online bingo loyalty scheme.

In May and June 2019, it then found offers of free bets and spins, online bingo games and rewards for playing poker. The regulator said the promotions included prize draws, which Kindred did not have a licence to offer since they could be considered lottery games.

It said it had issued a “high penalty fee” because of the seriousness of the offences. Spelinspektionen also bases its fines on operator turnover.

The Administrative Court in Linköping agreed that Kindred had committed multiple serious failings but found that the size of the penalty was inappropriate. 

It ruled that a “medium-high penalty fee” was more appropriate to the offences, halving the fine from SEK100m to SEK50m.

Court appeals go against Swedish gambling regulator

It’s the fourth court appeal to go against the Swedish gambling regulator in recent weeks, and the second involving Kindred. 

Just a day earlier, the Administrative Court repealed a SEK20m (€2m) fine that the regulator issued against Betsson Nordic in June last year.

Spelinspektionen issued the fine and a warning against Betsson for alleged breaches of Sweden’s Gambling Act.

It said that Betsson had used convenience store chains Pressbyrån and 7-Eleven as gaming agents without them being registered as such because the stores had sold vouchers used to top up gaming accounts. Betsson appealed against the penalty.

The Administrative Court has now ruled that the situation was not covered by the Gambling Act’s provisions on gambling agents, which mention the sale of gambling products, the receipt of bets and the mediation of winnings, but not the sale of vouchers. 

Last week, the Court of Appeal in Jönköping reduced penalties against Genesis Global and AG Communications to SEK1m (€95,500‬), less than half the original amount.

And In another case, the Swedish Court of Appeal turned down Spelinspektionen’s request to appeal against the quashing of its injunction against Kindred’s Spooniker brand for breaching online casino deposit limits.

See also: Kindred’s Unibet launches bet sharing tool for social media