Swedish Gaming Authority Issues Penalties to Yggdrasil and Svenska Spel

Article by : Milena Petrovska Mar 26, 2024

• 
• 

Mondays have always had a reputation for being the most hated day of the week, and this specific Monday didn’t disappoint either.

The week hasn’t started on the right foot for Yggdrasil Gaming Limited and Svenska Spel Sport & Casino AB. The Swedish Gaming Authority (Spelinspektionen) has issued warnings and hefty penalties to both companies.

Non-compliance has been listed as the reason behind Yggdrasil’s misfortune, while Svenska Spel showed “shortcomings in the duty of care.”

Providing Software to Unlicensed Operators Got Yggdrasil Into Hot Water

According to the official announcement on the SGA website, Yggdrasil Gaming has been providing its software to an unlicensed actor. The unlicensed operator in question was supposedly targeting Swedish customers without the proper permits.

The Authority, which has been increasingly strict in the past few years, decided to issue a formal warning to Yggdrasil Gaming. Moreover, a penalty of SEK 300,000 (about 26,200 EUR) was sent to Yggdrasil’s address, as well.

SGA explained in its press release that handling gambling software has required a license since 1 July 2023. Such a license applies to all actors, including those manufacturing, providing, installing, and modifying casino software for commercial purposes.

This step was introduced for the authorities to gain more control over channeling and to discourage illegal online gambling. Any software providers licensed in Sweden automatically become unavailable to unlicensed gaming sites.

In the official Warning and Penalty Fee document, the SGA states that Yggdrasil received a license on 22 March 2023. Moreover, all license holders were reminded of the new rules on 26 October 2023.

On 16 January 2024, after conducting research and checking multiple websites, the SGA concluded that Yggdrasil had been supplying games to an unlicensed operator. The illegal website hasn’t been named yet.

Although the regulations allowed for a fine of up to SEK 580,000 (about 50,700 EUR), SGA settled on a lower penalty of SEK 300,000.

Svenska Spel Failed to Protect Vulnerable Customers

While the Yggdrasil fine has quickly made the headlines, Svenska Spel is the company with a much larger fine.

Namely, the SGA has concluded that Svenska Spel Sport & Casino failed to protect players against excessive gambling. The operator also failed to assist them in reducing their gambling activities when such a step was necessary.

The regulator has issued an official warning alongside a massive penalty of SEK 100 million (about 8.73 million EUR).

According to the official document released by the SGA, an investigation into how and whether Svenska Spel complies with regulations started on 21 December 2021.

The main goals of the investigation were to establish whether the company meets the duty of care requirements. It was also assessed whether and how the company contacts players when problem gambling is suspected or identified. Finally, handling players with increased depositing limits of over SEK 10,000 per month was another segment of the investigation.

Svenska Spel was asked to provide customer files for ten customers who lost funds in the two months following 17 October 2021.

Multiple customers were recorded as being allowed to keep playing and spending despite some concerns regarding their gambling habits. Even though Svenska Spel did reach out and carry out follow-up calls, the SGA deemed its actions insufficient.

In some cases, the operator has been sending notices of profit despite the amounts representing net losses if the bet amount was removed.

There were also situations where customers were warned about their spending but were allowed to play daily throughout the year.

Just like in the situation with Yggdrasil, the SGA has opted for a significantly lower penalty than the maximum allowed one. In this case, Svenska Spel could’ve received a fine of up to SEK 195,243,800 (about 17 million EUR), but it “got away” with only SEK 100 million instead.