Swedish gambling operator ATG fined over inadequate AML procedures
ATG has lost its appeal against the financial penalty.
Sweden.- The horse racing betting operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) will have to pay a SEK 3m (€277,000) fine after losing its appeal against the sanction. The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen issued the penalty over inadequate anti-money laundering procedures identified during an investigation launched in 2022.
The regulator found that ATG had not implemented suitable safeguards to sufficiently reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. ATG appealed against the initial conclusion of the probe but judge Louise Millqvist of the Administrative Court ruled that the case showed a “breach of fundamental rules on customer control” with significant amounts of money at play.
The court also denied Spelinspektionen’s request for a heftier financial sanction, concluding that the breach was not grave enough to justify a higher fee.
ATG’s gaming revenue was SEK 2.6bn (€232m) for the first half of the year, a 5 per cent drop in year-on-year terms. The company’s profit margins narrowed from 27 to 23 per cent.
The operator is now eyeing the opportunity of the Finnish online gambling market, which is expected to be liberalised by 2027. The operator has entered into a joint venture with Finnish trotting body Hippos to form Hippos ATG, which intends to use ATG’s tech and branding in the new Finnish online gambling market when it opens.
At the end of last month, Spelinspektionen issued a spate of penalty fees against operators for failures to inform the regulator of changes in key employees. It also issued fines against two licensed suppliers, Kalamba games and Quickspin, after it found their games on sites run by unlicensed operators.
