Swedish Gambling Industry in the News — Weekly Round-up for October 19, 2018

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Oct 19, 2018

Lotteriinspektionen Release Online Website Requirements

Identifiers obligatory on all websites include responsible gambling measures and license detail linked logos

Swedish gambling regulator Lotteriinspektionen has published responsible gambling requirements that licensees must display prominently on websites and mobile apps.

Responsible gambling logos must link players to a self-test, offer deposit limitations and time controls on play along with self-exclusion capabilities from the individual operator and/or on the national self exclusion system Spelpaus.se.

The new National self-exclusion system is scheduled to go live from January 1, 2019 along with the Lotteriinspektionen name change to Spelinspektionen.

In related news, the regulator’s anti-match fixing coordinator took up her role this week. Katarina Abrahamsson joins the regulator having worked at the lottery inspectorate as a lawyer, primarily on the development of regulations and guidelines linked to the new regulatory scheme.

An anti-match fixing council led by the Spelinspektionen will promote strategic and operational cooperation in terms of integrity in sport.

It will comprise various Government agencies, including representatives of the Public Prosecutor, the Police Office and Government Offices such as the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Social Affairs, along with relevant sports federations, trade organisations and the like.

Swedish Court Supports Regulator In Gambling Advert Case

In a case originating four years ago, publication faces SEK 100,000 fine

The ongoing struggle between Swedish regulator Lotteriinspektionen and regional publications carrying advertisements for international online gambling operators reached a new phase Friday when the Swedish Administrative Court enforced an injunction and ordered the publication Nyheter24 to cough up a fine of SEK 100,000 for failing to remove links to said international websites.

The case has its roots back in 2014, when the regulator initiated the injunction against Nyheter, citing unlawful activity in promoting unlicensed operators (who at the time were not accepted for licensing anyway).

The regulator was seemingly trying to stop the flood of advertising placed with Swedish publications by international operators keen on accessing the Swedish punter, it has to be said to the distress of the state run Svenska Spel local gambling monopoly.

The injunction came into force late 2017 following the support of the Supreme Administrative Court, and shortly thereafter Lotteriinspektionen went after Nyheter24 and other publications for maintaining hyperlinks to international online gambling websites.

Nyheter now faces the choice of continued defiance, paying the fine and de-linking, or launching an appeal via the Chamber of Commerce. The latter course appears unlikely of success in the wake of a recent Swedish Appeal Court ruling that upheld fines imposed on two other publications for the same offence.

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