Swedish Online Gambling Regulation – Bold New Changes

The Swedish gambling market is entering a new era with Sweden’s online gambling regulation. This new bill is set to take effect from the 1st of July, 2023. It will serve as an update to the existing gambling laws in Sweden and will minimise the current issues with unlicensed operators. It mainly concerns the introduction of B2B supplier licenses.

However, the bill is still being discussed, and its contents may be subject to change. Despite Spelinspektionen’s work on implementing it, the government has yet to finalize its decision, with many proposals being cut and opinions being split. As such, many operators are uncertain of these laws’ effects on the industry.

Current Gambling Laws in Sweden – Strict and Secure

Although gambling has been legal since 1994, it wasn’t until 2002 that the country would allow for an online casino for Swedish players to operate legally. 2019 saw the start of the current re-regulation with the establishment of the Spelinspektionen and the creation of operators, breaking up the Svenska Spel monopoly. Below, you can see a timeline with some critical events in the history of Sweden’s gambling laws:

Swedish gambling legislation is stringent, as the Swedish gambling authority ensures all operators abide by the law. For example, the Swedish horse race betting operator ATG was fined SEK 6 million for issues with anti-money laundering procedures. Meanwhile, SG International was banned entirely due to operating without a license. Obviously, the government wishes to address some problems in the Swedish gambling market.

Sweden’s New Gambling Laws and Proposals

As part of the ongoing re-regulation that began in 2019, the government created the Enhanced Gaming Bill. It aims to channel players into licensed operators. As some players still play at unlicensed ones, they spend exceptional amounts of money and cannot be adequately protected. Many of these operators also don’t explicitly target Swedish customers, which makes the situation more complex.

The purpose of the license requirement for gaming software is to discourage illegal gambling – Spelinspektionen

One of the agreed-upon measures is the B2B supplier license, which will prohibit unlicensed suppliers from providing services to operators within the Swedish gambling market. Although the bill is not yet in effect, the Spelinspektionen has already prepared to issue 70 licenses, and they have even recently awarded the first Swedish supplier licenses to several companies. Other proposals included:

• Regulating slot machines on international ferries
• Stricter moderation of advertising for certain gambling types
• Outright ban on gambling advertisements during the day

These have been unsuccessful due to disruptive effects on the market or ambiguous texts. While the bill is still being discussed, the B2B supplier licenses seem to be something the government has agreed upon.

The Swedish Government – A Big Change

Whilst discussions for the new Sweden online gambling regulation are ongoing, the country elected a new government. Some are hopeful this will lead to positive change, as the previous government was presumably biased towards Svenska Spel and ATG. It also imposed unfavourable rules, such as a temporary SEK 5,000 deposit cap.

However, the new government isn’t as unified, and there is uncertainty about their approach to the bill. The current re-regulation process has not reduced the state income from the gambling sector, as taxes from licensed operators compensate for the consolidated earnings of state-owned casinos. As such, the government will likely have a positive attitude to this bill.

The Future of Sweden’s gambling industry

While the supplier licenses and attempts at channelisation are appreciated, many operators have other concerns for the industry. For example, casinos can offer only one welcome bonus and no other promotions. Currently, there are plans to exclude only charity games from this.

Meanwhile, due to Sweden’s negative stigma towards gambling, many Nordic banks refuse to provide licensed operators with their payment methods. That is a massive issue as these are popular methods, and many players want to use them. As such, operators seek ways to improve their image by increasing transparency through disclosed revenues.

Some players are also concerned that the government will impose even stricter rules and that the current proposals may not be enough to stop unlicensed gambling. Nevertheless, the government is confident in these new gambling laws for Sweden and hopes to ban unlicensed gambling successfully.

Sweden Gaming Regulation FAQ

Before finishing up our blog on Sweden’s online gambling regulation, we will answer all your pressing questions. You can learn more about Sweden’s current gambling laws and how they are enforced. We will also review some details on the latest proposals and the government’s current plans for the gambling industry.