Swedish gambling trade body urges regulator to adopt methods of other agencies

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling has called for the country's gambling regulator to take cues from the way finance, education and local government are overseen. BOS claims the Swedish Gambling Inspectorate, Spelinspektionen, could foster better long-term compliance by examining the activities of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, the Schools Inspectorate and the Stockholm County Administrative Board. "We believe that the licensed gambling market in Sweden would benefit if the Swedish Gambling Authority were to adopt working methods more closely aligned with those of other Swedish government agencies," said Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary general of BOS. The trade body made the argument in a new report comparing the gambling inspectorate with the three other regulators.

BOS took particular aim at the gambling regulator's sanctions policy. It pointed to the financial authority and Stockholm County's practice of setting sanction fees at lower percentages of their available range, such as below 20 to 27 percent for the financial watchdog and under five percent for the county. The trade body argues this adjusts sanctions more proportionately to turnover and the severity of the offence. BOS also argued for a more "system oriented" approach to anti-money laundering supervision, again citing the financial authority and Stockholm County's methods. This approach would focus more on overarching risk assessments, governance and procedures, and would evaluate a betting firm's "complete compliance framework" instead of individual errors. BOS stated that 11 out of 12 inspectorate decisions based on Sweden's 2021 anti-money laundering act were based on small samples of five to 15 customer files, without considering business-wide risk assessments. Hoffstedt asserted that the changes would "lead to a more risk-based approach, which would strengthen efforts against money laundering and enhance other areas of supervision".

Differences of opinion between BOS and the inspectorate are common. The trade body has been vocal about the impact Swedish regulation is having on channelisation, the rate at which gambling occurs on the licensed market. Since Sweden moved away from a state monopoly in 2019, the overall channelisation rate is 84 percent, with sports betting at 95 percent but online casino at 68 percent. Last year, a BOS study pointed to liabilities in online casino regulation as a reason behind the struggling channelisation. A narrow definition of permissible games was cited in particular, with BOS arguing this puts legal Swedish gaming firms at a commercial competitive disadvantage. The trade body does not see the inspectorate as all bad, however. In this year's report, BOS praised the regulator's nuance when it comes to sanctions severity in certain cases. "We hope that this report can serve as a basis and an inspiration for such an ambition, that the Swedish Gambling Authority might look to other Swedish government agencies in its approach to supervision and sanctions," Hoffstedt concluded.