Sweden to probe political lottery rules

Political parties in Sweden use lotteries to raise funds.

Sweden.- The Swedish government will carry out an inquiry into the rules and regulations for party political lotteries. Used to raise funds for political campaigning, such lotteries have come in for criticism since they are exempt from gambling tax and rules on credit and bonuses.

The inquiry will be led by Gunnar Larsson, the former consumer ombudsman and director general of the Swedish Consumer Agency. He will deliver his findings by February 29, 2024.

He will probe whether the existing rules that apply specifically to party political lotteries are appropriate or whether they should be changed to provide greater player protection. It will consider whether parties should be licensed to operate gambling to raise funds and whether it is justified that they be exempt from gambling tax, bonus restrictions and a ban on credit.

The government said: “Openness and transparency are important prerequisites for a democratic society. This applies not least to the question of how political parties are financed. The gambling market is surrounded by extensive regulations amid the need to reduce the risks of the social harm that gambling can entail. Large parts of the regulations have been fundamentally changed in recent years.

“It is important to maintain a high level of trust in the political system and that political power is not used to create undue advantages.”

At present, the maximum that operators can be fined for breaching the Money Laundering Act is much lower than for Gambling Act violations. The memorandum said this is “unsatisfactory” as, in many cases, violations of the Money Laundering Act can be considered more serious than those related to the Gambling Act.

Last month, the Swedish government extended the tenure of Camilla Rosenberg as director general of the national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen for three years. She will remain in the position until October 31, 2026.

Rosenberg took up the post at what was then Lotteriinspektionen in October 2017, after being named acting director general six months earlier. She joined the regulator as head of operations in 2015 having previously worked as chief legal officer at Swedish Energy Agency.

Her tenure as director general saw the introduction of Sweden’s regulated online gambling market in 2019, which is when the regulator was renamed Spelinspektionen. More recently, she has seen the Swedish gambling regulator receive more powers to tackle unlicensed gambling, including the ability to demand information from payment providers. It has also received an increase in funding for this year.