Swedish appeal court upholds SEK44m in penalties against bet365

Sweden’s Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals by Hillside (Gaming) ENC and Hillside (Sports) ENC, upholding warnings and a combined SEK44m ($4.4m) in penalty fees for serious breaches of gambling duty-of-care and deposit-limit rules. The two companies provide casino and betting services through bet365.com.

In judgments dated 8 October, the court agreed with the Administrative Court’s assessment of the violations and found its penalties proportionate. Hillside Gaming’s fee stands at SEK4m, while Hillside Sports must pay SEK40m. Sweden’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, announced the appeal outcomes on 14 October.

The cases began with regulatory decisions in April 2023. Spelinspektionen initially imposed fees of SEK14m on Hillside Gaming and SEK65m on Hillside Sports. 

The Administrative Court upheld the warnings in June 2024 but reduced the fees to their current levels. Its assessment took account of the breaches, the companies’ financial circumstances and both mitigating and aggravating factors. The latest judgments leave those lower amounts in place.

The regulator’s original investigations examined customer activity during October to December 2021. It found that some customers could gamble without setting the daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits required for online play. 

Spelinspektionen also concluded that the companies had failed to respond early enough or adequately to signs of excessive gambling among customers it reviewed.

Spelinspektionen’s recent work has also covered licensee governance. On 8 October, it announced a suitability review of reported board and management changes at 17 licensees, including Svenska Spel.

In a separate concluded case, the regulator warned Sports Alliance Sweden and imposed a SEK150,000 fee over information deficiencies on physical lottery tickets.