Spelinspektionen partners with financial watchdog to address unlawful gambling

In a bid to combat illegal gambling within the country, the national gambling regulatory body, Spelinspektionen, is set to enhance its partnership with the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen). The government is of the view that closer collaboration between the two entities would bolster oversight over gambling transactions.

Earlier this year, the government acknowledged that Spelinspektionen had received expanded regulatory authority. Under this new mandate, payment providers in Sweden are required to furnish authorities with information regarding payments processed, to assist with the imposition of payment blocks against unlicensed gaming operators.

In instances where operators are found to be targeting the Swedish market without a valid license, their payments may be blocked. To verify if an operator is targeting the country, Spelinspektionen has the ability to conduct test purchases.

Camilla Rosenberg, the Director General of Spelinspektionen, expressed her approval of the enhanced collaboration with the Financial Supervisory Authority, stating that it would create favorable conditions for the effective utilization of all available tools, which is viewed as a positive development.

The Swedish gambling regulator has been granted additional funding by the government

Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair was fined SEK4m (€350,804) by Spelinspektionen last month for offering illicit football bets. The Swedish gambling regulator discovered that Betfair had provided bets on the U21 Allsvenskan, a youth football league, which is not among the four highest football leagues authorized for betting under Swedish gambling regulations implemented to prevent match-fixing.

According to Spelinspektionen’s investigation, 148 U21 Allsvenskan matches were offered for bets in 2021 and 2022, with 224 customers placing bets worth SEK1.1m on 139 of those matches. Betfair argued that the prohibited bets were only available on the Betfair Exchange, where customers are matched against one another to form odds and bets, and that the operator receives a commission on those bets.

However, it admitted that the presence of this market on the exchange violated Swedish law. It further claimed that it had a manual procedure in place to block access to banned betting markets, but this process had failed in these instances.