The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA), Spelinspektionen, has issued a consultation response to the Ministry of Finance's memorandum – which contained EU AML legal proposals for Swedish law.
The regulator has, indeed, formally opposed requirements laid out as part of the European Union's latest anti-money laundering package which require adaptations to Swedish gambling and financial law.
Specifically, the SGA has outlined that it "largely agrees with the memorandum's proposal. However, the Swedish Gambling Authority opposes the proposal that the authority should test suitability and supervise registered lotteries."
Despite this point being outlined, it is evident that the authority does, indeed, regulate lotteries – as it fined Sports Betting Alliance for lottery ticket deficiencies earlier this month.
Continuing, the regulator's statement reads: "The Swedish Gambling Authority does not share the memorandum's assessment that the supervisory authorities should not be able to combine an order to provide the information and documents necessary for supervision with a fine. In addition, the Swedish Gambling Authority considers that certain provisions are unclear."
This latest development closely follows the announcement that a Swedish court had upheld the SGA's SEK 44m ($4.4m) fine against bet365 for serious breaches of gambling duty-of-care and deposit-limit rules.
Elsewhere, August marked the arrival of a new era at Spelinspektionen, as Peter Knutsson began his term as Director General at the regulatory authority, a role he is scheduled to retain until 2032. Indeed, his first action in the position was to extend Sweden's AML laws across land-based commercial casinos, removing an exemption that had previously covered the sector.
The EU can change Swedish AML law by enacting directly applicable regulations and binding technical standards that automatically override national rules, alongside directives that Sweden is legally required to implement into its own legislation
