Swedish gambling regulator lifts ban on SG International
SG International has taken steps to comply with Swedish gambling regulations.
Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has lifted its ban against Curacao-based SG International NV. It had issued a ban against the online casino operator on November 16 after finding that it had targetted Swedish players without a local licence.
The Swedish regulator issued the prohibition after concluding that SG International had information available in Swedish on its website and had directed marketing at Swedish consumers. SG International has since taken steps to comply with Swedish gambling regulations, leading to the ban being lifted on February 13.
SG International responded to the regulator’s ban by explaining that the text in Swedish was for informational purposes only for the benefit of Swedish players located outside of the country. It also clarified that it did not offer Swedish-language customer support, did not directly market to Swedish customers and did not allow deposits or withdrawals to be made in Swedish krona.
Nevertheless, to address the regulator’s concern, the operator removed all Swedish language information from its site and blocked registration via Swedish addresses. Spelinspektionen checked these updates in January and found that the site no longer breached its rules, hence the ban could be lifted.
Swedish regulator reminds B2B suppliers to renew licences
Earlier this week, Spelinspektionen alerted suppliers that many B2B licences will expire this year. Companies must apply for a renewal at least four months before their current licence expires to avoid an interruption to their licence.
Suppliers whose licences expire on December 31 must submit the necessary information to apply for a renewal by September 1. Those who miss that deadline may still obtain a renewal but may suffer an interruption in their licensed status since Spelinspektionen may not be able to issue the renewal in time.
Sweden’s five-year B2B licences were issued amid the opening of regulated online gambling in January 2019. The regulator has advised licensees to reapply for new licences in good time to ensure they can continue to provide games and gambling solutions to B2C operators.
Meanwhile, Spelinspektionen has retracted its legal position on the importance of negative equity in reviews of gaming licences. The move comes after it lost a legal challenge launched by Avento to appeal against the rejection of its application for licence renewal.
In December, the regulator rejected Avento’s application to renew its three-year licence for Frank Casino and SlotsV because it had been in a position of negative equity in the first two years of its licence, which it obtained in December 2019.
However, the administrative court in Linköping has overruled the decision, noting that Avento now has a positive financial position. It noted that negative equity did not mean a business was necessarily at risk of not fulfilling its licence requirements.
