The Swedish gaming association SPER names Maria Wennerberg Sedigh as CEO
Maria Wennerberg Sedigh will replace Jenny Nilzon in March
Sweden.- The gaming industry association SPER has named Maria Wennerberg Sedigh as its new chief executive. She will replace Jenny Nilzon, who has been in the position for five years.
Wennerberg Sedigh is currently a senior adviser at SPER. She has previously worked at Sweden’s Lottery Inspectorate and at the Ministry of Finance.
She was also involved in Sweden’s Gaming Licence Inquiry, which influenced the Swedish Gambling Act and the country’s new regulated gaming framework that came into force in January 2019. She will step into the CEO role ahead of SPER’s annual meeting at the end of March.
Wennerberg Sedigh said: “It feels exciting, and I am happy to have gained the trust. I will continue to develop SPER’s work with self-regulation, consumer protection and industry confidence. This is a big and fun assignment.”
Patrik Hofbauer, chairman of SPER and chief executive of Svenska Spel, one of the association’s members said: “We on the board are extremely happy that Maria will be the one to lead SPER further. She has a unique knowledge of the industry and I look forward to our collaboration.”
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Supreme Administrative Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen on a sanction imposed on an online gambling operator. The regulator had appealed to the court after lower courts reduced the size of a fine it issued against Genesis Global in 2019 for self-exclusion violations.
Spelinspektionen has also welcomed action by Sweden’s financial watchdog Finansinspektionen against the payment provider Trustly. The body issued a SEK130m fine to Trustly due to anti-money laundering (AML) failings.
