New online gambling regulations anticipated in Sweden

ne gambling regulation in Sweden could be in line to receive an overhaul, following the publication of the results of a year and a half long probe into the country’s gambling industry.

The report, commissioned by the Swedish government and carried out by Hakan Hallstedt, Director General of the Lotteriinspektionen, recommends that the country bring to an end Svenska Spel’s monopoly over online gambling, and introduce a licence-based regulatory framework.

Hallstedt’s report has recommended that an 18% tax on gross profits be introduced for any companies wishing to gain a licence in the country’s regulated market.

The Swedish government has become increasingly cognisant in recent years of the success of companies such as Kindred and Betsson in the country, aiming to scrap parts of Svenska Spel’s monopoly in order to bring such company’s under what Reuters refers to as its “regulatory sway”.

Around 77% of Sweden’s gambling market is currently made up of licensed and taxed activity, according to the Swedish Gambling Authority, with the hope being that these new measures will take that proportion to 90%.

Reacting to the report’s publication, Peter Alling, Head of Public Affairs Nordics at Kindred, commented: "We welcome the political consensus on the need for a modern gambling legislation, and the commitment that a new law will be in place before the next general election.

“For re-regulation to be successful there is no room for major changes in the investigator's proposal. Delays will endanger the whole reform.”