Swedish regulator fines Kindred subsidiary €920,000 over “serious and repeated” deficiencies
Spelinspektionen found failings in Spooniker’s due diligence procedures.
Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has dealt a SEK 10m (€920,000) fine to Kindred Group’s Spooniker subsidiary for customer due diligence failings. The regulator said the size of the fine takes into account previous failings identified in 2022, which led to a review last year.
It said the operator had failed to complete sufficient verification of customers’ sources of funds, thereby increasing the risk of money laundering.
Spooniker argued that its customer risk classification system requires users to register via Sweden’s electronic identity verification system, Bank-ID, and that its verification process met regulatory standards in preliminary assessments. However, Spelinspektionen went ahead with the penalty following a review of customer transactions.
“They have not been able to determine whether the customers’ activities were legitimate or whether they posed a risk of money laundering or terrorist financing,” the regulator said.
Spelinspektionen noted that all of the customers in its review had made deposits totaling between SEK 620,000 and SEK 830,000 during the review period. It said: “Apart from information on taxable income being collected on one occasion, no further measures were taken for these customers, despite the fact that they deposit between the entire taxable annual income and SEK 340,000 more than the taxable annual income.”
Director general Camilla Rosenberg stressed the regulator’s concerns about Spooniker’s repeat offences. She said: “The deficiencies are serious and repeated. The Swedish Gambling Authority considers that the penalty fee is proportionate to the seriousness of the violations.”
Spooniker operates the sites unibet.se and bingo.se. Kindred is now owned by the French gambling giant FDJ United, which completed its acquisition of the Swedish igaming operator in October of last year.
