Lottstift, Norway’s regulator, has warned state operator Norsk Tipping with a potential NOK 1m (£73k) fine over a list of identified AML failures.
The warning comes after the regulator found a total of five deficiencies as a result of an audit into Norsk Tipping’s internal processes. “Norsk Tipping has not had good enough systems to ensure compliance with certain provisions in the Money Laundering Act,” Lottstift commented.
Despite Lottstift’s acknowledgement that Norsk Tipping has previously been proactive in addressing similar issues, the operator has been given until 15 January to submit evidence that the current breaches have been dealt with, or will otherwise face additional regulatory action.
Tatyana Søreide Klepaker, a Lottstift lawyer said: “We see positively that Norsk Tipping shows a willingness to address this, but the requirement came in 2018, and we expected them to have it in place.”
Thorough job, but is there a catch?
The state-owned operator has seen increased regulatory scrutiny over the past 12 months, with the accompanying financial penalties seemingly neverending.
Earlier in November, Norsk Tipping attracted a £2m penalty over a Super Draw mishap from April that wrongly turned 52 people into newly-made millionaires. A similar technical failure happened again with the Eurojackpot draw, where 47,000 customers were affected.
Tensions also became unbearable for Tonje Sagstuen, ex-CEO of Norsk Tipping, who resigned from her role earlier in June, publicly citing the “breach of trust” as the motivation behind her decision.
“I am terribly sorry that we have disappointed so many, and I understand that people are angry with us,” she said in her farewell statement.
“The criticism is justified, and we understand of course that this is a breach of trust. I once again apologise to those to whom we gave false hopes. Here, things have failed in several places, and that is my responsibility.”
Coincidentally or not, the future of Norway’s state monopoly over gambling has become a hot political debate over the last year, with many critics pointing to Norsk Tipping’s failures as evidence of the need to abolish the regime – with Norway now the only monopoly left in the Nordics after Finland’s decision to open up its market in 2027.
It must be noted that never before in recent history has Norsk Tipping been subjected to such an active regulatory oversight – leaving the exact motives behind this open to interpretation.