Swedish court quashes €9.1m fine against Svenska Spel Sport & Casino
The Swedish gambling regulator had imposed the fine for duty of care failings.
Sweden.- The Administrative Court in Linköping has quashed a SEK100m (€9.1m) fine issued against Svenska Spel Sport & Casino. The court ruled in favour of the online division of the state-controlled Swedish gambling operator in its appeal against the enforcement action taken by the national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen
The regulator had issued the fine in relation to duty of care failing that it said it had identified in an analysis of the transactions of 10 customers who incurred significant losses between October and December 2021. Spelinspektionen said Svenska Spel Sport & Casino had failed to take adequate steps to prevent excessive gambling, putting in breach of Sweden’s 2019 Gambling Act.
However, the operator appealed against the penalty, arguing that it was disproportionate to the alleged violations. CEO Fredrik Wastenson also argued that the rules lacked clarity, leading to compliance challenges for operators. He insisted that more precision was needed in the wording.
Spelinspektionen has the right to appeal against the court’s decision.
The ruling comes just as Spelinspektionen announced SEK 19m in fines for anti-money laundering (AML) failings at 3 licensed gambling operators. It’s issued penalty fees and warnings to Betsson Nordic, Snabbare and Flutter’s The Stars Group (TSG Interactive).
The latter received the heftiest fine of SEK7m (€642,260), while Betsson Nordic was fined SEK6.5m (€596,400) and Snabbare received a penalty of SEK5.5m. The regulator cited cases of deposits that exceeded customers’ annual incomes with no enhanced due diligence taken.
