Only one operator has paid financial penalty in 2019, Swedish regulator claims

Just one operator has paid a fine for breaching Swedish regulations despite 18 fines being issued since January, the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) has said.

In the vast majority of cases, operators have chosen to appeal the fines through the Swedish courts.

Only Aland-based operator Paf has chosen not to contest the ruling, paying the SEK 100,000 (£8,000) fine it received earlier this year for failing to connect with the national Spelpaus self-exclusion database.

The SGA said previously the high number of appeals was a “time and resource consuming” distraction.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, the SGA said it was suprised by the number of egaming operators choosing to file appeals against its decisions, calling it an “unfortunate” circumstance.

“It would have been better if they had tried to understand the purpose of the law instead of challenging the legislation. If there is uncertainty about parts of the legislation, we recommend that the companies choose the safe alternative and do not risk violating the law,” the SGA added.

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Fines for regulatory breaches have been levied against Swedish licensed operators since the Swedish regulated market began operations in January, initially for failures to connect to Spelpaus but latterly for the offering of betting markets on football matches involving participants under the age of 18.

The SGA has previously said it would choose to rely on case law rather than issuing regular updates of Swedish regulations, most notably in the area of the so-called “moderation” requirement for gambling advertising by operators.

Many industry observers have claimed this is a flawed approach.