Swedish gambling regulator bans two unlicensed operators 

Spelinspektionen has issued bans against Moonrail Limited and Perfect Storm.

Sweden.- The Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen has banned Moonrail Limited and Perfect Storm from targeting the Swedish market after ruling that they were doing so without a licence. The regulator said the Curaçao-registered operators had breached chapter 3, section 3 of the Swedish Gambling Act.

Perfect Storm was investigated for the operation of csgo500.com and Moonrail for csgoempire.com. It said the two sites made gaming available for Swedish customers. Considerations included information related to Swedish customers such as use of the Swedish currency or Swedish payment options. It said both sites feature information in the Swedish language in their conditions section and in marketing materials from affiliates.

Spelinspektionen said: “If Swedish consumers are not allowed to register and create an account on a website that offers games, Spelinspektionen considers that the game cannot be considered to be provided in Sweden. The Gambling Act is therefore not applicable in that situation.”

However, in these instances, that was not the case. The operators were given an opportunity to respond but had not done so, the regulator said.

Last week, Spelinspektionen issued a SEK9m (€760,000) fine and a warning against Malta-based Videoslots for breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) and financing of terrorism laws. The regulator cited “serious and systematic” failings to adhere to customer knowledge requirements.

Spelinspektionen randomly selected ten of the operator’s biggest spending customers from between 2019 and 2021 and studied its actions. It found a failure to investigate discrepancies between income and transactions.