Court reduces Swedish regulator’s fines against two operators

A court of appeal has reduced fines issued against Genesis Global and Aspire Global’s AG Communications in 2019.

Sweden.- The Court of Appeal in Jönköping has reduced penalties against Genesis Global and AG Communications to SEK1m (€95,500‬), less than half the original amount.

The Swedish national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen had issued fines against both companies for breaching the obligation for licensed operators to connect to Sweden’s self-exclusion tool Spelpaus. Genesis and Aspire’s AG Communications had carried out manual checks instead. 

The breaches involved dated back to 2019, the year that Sweden’s licensed igaming market launched. 

Genesis, which operates Casino Joy, Play.com and Sloty, initially received a warning and a penalty fee of SEK4m (€382,000). AG Communications, which operates Karamba and Mr Play, received a penalty fee of SEK3m. 

Spelinspektionen bases the size of the penalties that it issues on the seriousness of the offence and operators’ annual turnover. However, both operators appealed, claiming that the infringements had not been serious.

The initial appeal was heard by the Court of Appeal in Linköping, which ruled that there had been failures in self-exclusion practices but that turnover could not be used as a basis for penalties issued for offences that occurred so soon after Sweden’s regulated market launched.

It cut both penalty fees in half to SEK2m for Genesis and SEK1.5m for AG Communications. 

However, both operators lodged further appeals to the Jönköping Court of Appeal. The second court again decided that there had been deficiencies but that the regulator’s calculations were wrong. 

It ruled that Spelinspektionen was wrong to calculate the penalties based only on the figures from January and February 2019. It lowered both penalties to SEK1m.

The operators could decide to appeal again, taking the case to Sweden’s Supreme Court.

Swedish court rejects regulator’s appeal over deposit loophole

The decision from the Jönköping Court of Appeal is the second court decision to go against the Swedish gambling regulator in the last week.

In another case, the Swedish Court of Appeal turned down Spelinspektionen’s request to appeal against the quashing of its injunction against Kindred’s Spooniker brand for breaching online casino deposit limits.

Spelinspektionen had fined Spooniker alongside the horserace betting operator Swedish horseracing betting operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) for allowing players to use a loophole to circumvent the country’s temporary SEK5,000 (€476) weekly deposit cap on online casino deposits.

The operators were found to have allowed players to set their own deposit limits and only granted them access to online casino if they set a limit under SEK5,000.

However, players were able to set higher limits and retain access to sports betting, and then lower their deposit limit below SEK5,000 after depositing funds to regain access to online casino.

ATG accepted the sanction, but Kindred appealed to the Administrative Court in Linköping and won the case. The court found that Sweden’s temporary law refers only to deposit limits for online casino not their actual deposits.

Spelinspektionen lodged an appeal against the decision, arguing that it effectively rendered Sweden’s deposit limits unenforceable.

It said the court’s decision means the online casino deposit limit would “lose its significance as a consumer protection provision” and allow operators to easily circumvent the limit.

However, the Swedish Court of Appeal has decided it has no grounds to appeal and that the Linköping ruling stands.

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, CEO of ATG, has called for the regulator to give lighter sanctions to operators who admit wrongdoing.

Skarplöth said that ATG had been sanctioned for mistakes that it had voluntarily reported to the regulator of its own accord, while other operators had avoided reporting their failings and even appealed against sanctions when they were issued.

However, Skarplöth said that Spelinspektionen has made it clear that it will not offer leniency to companies that self report breaches of regulations.

Sweden extends online casino deposit limit

The Swedish government has further extended its temporary restrictions on online casino gaming.

The restrictions, including a limit on online casino deposits, were introduced on July 1 last year due to fears that Covid-19 lockdowns would cause a rise in problem gambling. They were due to remain in place for six months, but were subsequently extended until June this year.

Sweden’s minister for social protection Ardalan Shekarabi said: “We see that the spread of covid-19 is still high in Sweden. The current situation entails great risks for consumers in the gaming market. We therefore need to act to reduce the risks for the most vulnerable consumers.”

The temporary controls include a SEK5,000 (€490) monthly deposit limit for online casino slots. Players must also set limits on playing time on both online casinos and gaming machines, and operators cannot offer bonuses of more than SEK100.

The restrictions have been criticised by the industry from the outset. The Swedish online gaming operators’ association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has been a major opponent.

When the government announced its consultation on the extension of the restrictions, BOS CEO Gustaf Hoffstedt said: “It is only the black market that has reason to rejoice at the government’s proposal for continued restrictions for Swedish-licensed gambling companies.”