Sweden is readying to toughen up its response to illegal operators in the country, with the jurisdiction now submitting a new amendment to its Gambling Act on Wednesday, which would allow the Ministry of Finance to enact changes that criminalize illegal gambling operators, as well as close other loopholes in the existing regulation.
Sweden works on important amendments to its Gambling Act
Specifically, operators that target Swedish customers but do so in English and offer payments in euros are off the hook, but this should stop now. The amendment seeks to hold operators to a singular standard that outright prohibits them from providing their services and products to local players, regardless of the form of those services and products.
This is an important change in how the country runs things. Right now, only operators that market in the Swedish language and offer the Swedish Krona as the default currency are considered to be actively targeting the market, but the fact is that Sweden is one of the most skilled nations in Europe when it comes to the use of English, hence allowing operators to push their services and products with little to no barrier.
The amendments would not simply target operators that are accessible in English but also focus on closing loopholes with existing payment providers, for example.
Importantly, the biggest shift would be in the fact that such operators would now be open to criminal provisions, and could be brought on criminal charges for non-compliance, which is a far stiffer regulatory recourse than simply issuing a penalty that often goes unheeded.
The amendment will strengthen the market, BoS believes
The industry has welcomed these changes, with the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling commenting that they would bring around meaningful changes that would empower authorities and lessen the clout of illegal operators.
Secretary-General Gustaf Hoffstedt added: "This is an important contribution to the possibility of strengthening the Swedish gambling license market, which is now proposed to criminalize almost all unlicensed gambling in Sweden."
"I foresee the government shortly submitting a bill to the Riksdag in accordance with the investigation’s proposal. Good job Mr. Investigator, and with the hope of an equally good job from the government and the Riksdag to now proceed with legislation on the matter. Unlicensed gambling in Sweden must be smoked out," he added, referring to investigator Marcus Isgren, who drafted the proposal.
