Swedish regulator reminds B2B suppliers to renew licences

Spelinspektionen has reminded suppliers that many B2B licences will soon expire.

Sweden.- The Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has 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.

This means that 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.

If companies continue to provide games without a valid licence, they would be considered to be operating illegally and could face regulatory penalties. Spelinspektionen said it will provide more details about the application process soon.

Swedish gambling regulator reviews stance on negative equity

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.

Meanwhile, Sweden has notified the European Commission of reforms to the Gambling Act 2018. Developed by the Ministry of Finance, the reforms aim to “minimise unlicensed gambling” and provide more regulatory control against the black market as well as to counter match-fixing.