Swedish Gambling Regulator Spelinspektionen Slaps Betsson and SkillOnNet on the Wrist With Seven-Figure Fines

Severe financial penalties were imposed against operators Betsson and SkillOnNet for violating Sweden's bonus policy laws. The country's regulator, Spelinspektionen, has fined both entities with SEK19million and SEK14 million, respectively.

Both licensees have been found guilty of breaching regulations on offering players bonuses more than once. These regulations came into force on January 1st, when Sweden's online gambling market was launched under new laws.

NordicBet's Big Omission

Betsson's NGG Nordic subsidiary's NordicBet site was under review by Spelinspektionen...

...which discovered that the site was offering bonus offers in different forms, such as weekly surprises, cash prize draws, extra spins and free games. NGG Nordic, it has been found, also organized lottery games, which they are not permitted to do as per their iGaming license.

All of this has been going on for over four months, according to Sweden's regulator – only after that period of time did the one-bonus restriction go into effect. Because these violations have been repeated multiple times, the regulatory body has issued the official warning and a penalty fee of SEK19 million ($2 million).

Betsson's representatives have already announced that they would appeal against the decision. Their official announcement states that their offerings were in perfect compliance with the legislation.

The company officials complained against the bonuses regulations which they deem “vague” and easy to interpret in different ways.

SkillOnNet Repeating Mistakes

Operator of several brands such as RedKings, PlayOjo and SlotsMagic – SkillOnNet – was offering daily bonuses, monthly rewards, cashbacks, extra spins and VIP packages across all of their sites. Identical to Betsson...

...they too were organizing lotteries online, which they are also not permitted to do. They were sent a warning a need to pay a SEK14million penalty.

Spelinspektionen has been very strict in regards to enforcing their policies and penalized multiple operators in the last several months. Betway and Mandalorian Technologies have been struck with SEK5m and SEK9m fines for offering multiple bonuses to players. Lottoland had to pay out SEK700,000 for their odds on lotteries offer.

Brief History of Violations

For the same reasons, AG Communications and Genesis Global Limited also found themselves in hot water with Swedish authorities...

...when they did not adhere to rules regarding bonuses and were fined SEK500,000 and SEK1.7m.

Spelinspektionen issued a statement that reads:

“As the Spelinspektionen already had indications at the beginning of the year that some gaming companies did not comply with the legislation, on February 19, the authorities issued a letter to all licensees regarding bonus offers. After the letter, the Gaming Inspectorate noted some compliance from the licensees, but the assessment is that further measures must also be taken to achieve full compliance.”

Also in June, Global Gaming exerted “serious deficiencies” in their business practice and, as a result, their license was revoked. Their failings were related to anti-money laundering measures and protection of vulnerable players.

Source:

“Betsson and SkillOnNet hit with seven-figure Swedish fines”, Brad Allen, egr.global, June 27, 2019.