Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling inspectorate, has imposed IP bans and payment injunctions against 23 unlicensed operators judged to be illegally targeting the country’s regulated online gambling market.
The regulatory body has informed its Swedish counterpart authorities and financial institutions of 23 Curacao-based businesses acting in the online marketplace illegally.
The public disclosure of illegal businesses forms part of Spelinspektionen’s new strategy against black market actors encroaching on Sweden’s regulated marketplace
Last October, the inspectorate was granted new powers to launch direct investigations and enforcement actions against illegal or non-compliant businesses.
These powers have enabled Spelinspektionen to directly collaborate with the national authorities of the Swedish Consumer Agency and Finansinspektionen (FCA), Sweden’s Tax Agency to bolster its enforcement actions and penalties.
As a result and following the discovery of the illegal actors, Spelinspektionen ordered the authorities to impose direct IP bans and payment injunctions on the online properties of the 23 Curacao-based businesses.
The safeguarding and protection of Sweden’s regulated online gambling marketplace will be put specifically under the spotlight in stage-2 amendments of Sweden’s reformed Gambling Law.
This month, the Swedish government ordered Spelinspektionen to end its temporary enforcement of online casino restrictions that have been imposed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The restrictions were lifted on the condition that Spelinspektionen provides an assessment of its mandatory SEK5,000 weekly deposit limit on online casinos to Minister for Social Security, Ardalan Shekarabi.
The enforcement update followed the inspectorate’s publication of its latest market report that revealed that Swedish gambling revenues had increased by 5% to SEK 6.3bn.
