Proposal for a strengthened gambling regulation on the Swedish gambling market

Updated 2022-06-07
 

On 27 January 2022, the Government submitted a proposal for a strengthened gambling regulation to further strengthen the protection for consumers and create conditions for a long-term and sustainable gambling market. The proposal intends to prevent operators from marketing gambling advertising in an aggressive manner for the most dangerous games and to exclude illegal operators from the Swedish gambling market.  

The Swedish gambling market was most recently re-regulated on 1 January 2019 with the introduction of the Gambling Act (2018:1138). The re-regulation meant, among other things, that operators on the Swedish gambling market and operators on the internet with the Swedish market as the target group needed a license to continue to conduct gambling activities in Sweden. Furthermore, a self-exclusion register was introduced which the individual could use to exclude the supply of and marketing of gambling in all its forms. The purpose of the re-regulation was already then to limit the negative consequences of gambling for the individual. As a part of further strengthening the protection for consumers, the Government has now submitted proposals for further measures.

The proposal referred to the Council on Legislation for consideration includes requirements for a license for gambling software, a ban on facilitating illegal gambling and an extended advertising ban on unlicensed gambling. Furthermore, an adjustment of the moderation requirement used in the assessment of marketing of gambling and a new legislation with a disclosure obligation for licensees is proposed to increase the opportunities to follow the development of the gambling market. It is stated that the purpose of the measures is to exclude unlicensed gambling operators and to prevent illegal gambling activities, as well as to protect particularly vulnerable individuals from the marketing of gambling activities of a particularly risky nature.

Most of the changes are proposed to enter into force on 1 January 2023, and the requirement for permission for gambling software developers on 1 July 2023.

On 17 May, the Swedish Government submitted a bill to the parliament. The bill itself does not entail any major changes compared to the previously announced legislative council referral. Most of the changes are proposed to continue to take effect on January 1, 2023, while the requirement for a permit for game software developers is proposed to take effect from July 1, 2023.

Since the re-regulation in 2019, discussions have taken place in relation to what additional measures that can be taken to strengthen the protection for consumers and to exclude unlicensed operators from the Swedish market. An adjustment of the moderation requirement would mean that it becomes easier to determine, whether the marketing meets the requirements set by law, both from an internal as well as an external assessment.

The proposal for a license for gambling software developers was already discussed in connection with the introduction of the Gambling Act in 2019 and means that everyone who manufactures, provides, installs, or changes any gambling software needs to apply for a license from the gambling authority. The license is valid for a maximum of five years and may then be renewed. However, it is still proposed that the licensee take full responsibility towards consumers and the supervisory authority for the gambling activities. Furthermore, it is proposed that licensed operators may only use gambling software developers with a license, and conversely, only gambling software developers may manufacture, provide, install, or modify gambling software for licensed operators.

Discussions have also taken place about introducing so-called IP blocking and potentially extending the scope of the Gambling Act to include all gambling activities that are available to Swedish consumers. At present, however, the Government has concluded that there is no reason to implement these proposals.

We regularly follow developments in the gambling market.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding the regulation.

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The article in Swedish