Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol receives new five-year licence
The Swedish land-based casino monopoly has gained a new licence despite its money-laundering failings.
The Swedish Gambling Authority, Spelinspektionen, has awarded a new five-year licence to Svenska Spel’s land-based casino subsidiary Casino Cosmopol.
The licence renewal, effective from this year, comes despite the fact that Casino Cosmopol has been un-operational for more than a year owing to the closure of its casinos due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Svenska-Spel, Sweden’s state-owned former gaming monopoly, which still has a monopoly over land-based casinos, closed all four of its Casino Cosmopol venues in March 2020.
At the time, the brand had casinos in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Sundsvall. Svenska Spel has since decided to close the Sundsvall casino permanently. The venue had been billed as Sweden’s first international casino when it opened in 2001.
As a result of the closure of venues, Spelinspektionen did not inspect the Casino Cosmopol as part of the licence renewal process.
The Swedish press has also reported that the gaming regulator did not examine whether Casino Cosmopol had correctly amended its money-laundering controls following a fine issued in 2018.
The SEK3m (€276,959) fine, which was the first sanction of its kind from Spelinspektionen, was upheld by Sweden’s Court of Appeal in December.
