LeoVegas AB, the Swedish gambling giant with far reaches in the country’s gaming space, has gotten a five-year extension to operate in Sweden. This was made known in an official press release published on October 28, 2019.
The gambling license in Sweden was introduced earlier this year to provide control and order in the online gambling market. At the time, the license was given on a two-year basis, and LeoVegas was one of the first companies to be awarded.
With the recent update, everything is in play for the gambling giant to operate in its home country for the next half-decade.
Regulatory compliance pays off
Gustaf Hagman, the chief executive of the gambling company, lauded the license extension as a great validation of their efforts to stay compliant with the country’s gambling laws, while also adding that the Administrative Court (the body responsible for licensing) is doing a great job by following in the footsteps of other regulated gambling markets. He said,
“The extended license gives us confidence in the Swedish licensing system and the Swedish market, where we continue to take market shares. We see that several smaller players have already left the Swedish market, and at the same time, marketing has declined since the turn of the year.”
Swedish casinos set to get a regulatory update
The news is coming fresh off reports that Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling regulator, will be releasing new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) regulations to help track money in its casino industry.
According to an October 26 report from Gambling News, the new regulations will be enforced on January 13, 2020, and will replace the current DAR regulation system. The news medium adds that the regulator will be looking to streamline the process of submitting reports with the new measures.
Ultimately, they believe that it will make way for a more accurate, transparent, and accessible submission system that will help authorities track suspected illegal payments and links to terrorist organizations.
In addition to the new AML measures, Spelinspektionen will also launch a platform to help companies apply for licenses. The registration platform is set to launch on December 9, and while it will require regulatory vetting and approval, Spelinspektionen has confirmed that it is working in preparation for an early launch.
While the new AML and CTF measures will be initiated in January, the soon-to-be-obsolete DAR system will operate until February 29, after which all casinos are expected to have switched compliance to the new regulatory requirements.
LeoVegas clashes with Dutch gambling regulator
However, while LeoVegas seems to be enjoying regulatory bliss in its home country, is recently ran into some trouble away from home. Earlier this year, it was reported that Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling regulator, had fined LeoVegas and its Royal Panda subsidiary for running its gambling services in the country without an operating license.
In its report, the KSA noted that both LeoVegas and Royal Panda had targeted players in the Netherlands, despite not getting clearance from the regulator to operate online gambling in the country. The regulator added that both companies had been running websites that were accessible to Dutch IPs, and even went as far as providing a payment portal for interested players.
Per the report, Royal panda was fined €400,000 ($443,750), while Leovegas, its parent company, was handed a €350,000 ($388,272) fine.
