Finnish Gambling Act amendments rejected
The proposal to liberalise the online gambling market in Finland will advance with only minor changes.
Finland.- Proposed amendments to Finnish Gambling Act have been rejected, clearing the way for the legislation to advance largely in its original form as presented to the country’s parliament in March. The legislation will pave the way for competitive regulated online gambling in Finland from 2027.
Opposition parties had proposed several changes last week following the bill’s review by the Administrative Committee. They included a proposal to raise the minimum gambling age from 18 to 20, a requirement for mandatory two-factor authentication on all licensed gambling platforms, centralised deposit and loss limits across operators and a ban on bonuses and advertising.
The proposed ban on advertising would only have covered TV and radio advertising for all licensees apart from Veikkaus, the current state-owned monopoly operator. It would also have banned gambling advertising at sports and public events.
There was also a proposal to increase the gambling tax rate from the original proposal of 22 per cent to 25.5 per cent of gross gaming revenue.
Final Finnish Gambling Act vote expected next week
The overwhelming rejection of these proposals by 153 votes to 21 with 25 members absent means the legislation is likely to pass with only minor adjustments when it gets a final vote next week.
Antti Koivula, chief compliance officer at Hippos ATG, the new joint venture between Suomen Hippos and Sweden’s ATG, welcomed the result of the vote. “This outcome surprised absolutely no one. If anything was surprising, it was how overwhelmingly the proposal was defeated, even within the opposition itself,” Koivula wrote.
While the proposal to open Finland’s online gambling market still requires a full parliamentary vote next week, Koivula believes that only a change in government at the next national elections in April 2027 could halt the proposal. That seems unlikely, but there have been suggestions that the targeted January 2027 launch date for the new licensing regime could be put back due to the elections.
