Swedish Gambling Regulator Told Supervision of Market Not up to Scratch

Sweden’s National Audit Office has stated that the Swedish Gambling Authority, Spelinspektionen, carries out to few inspections of both licensed and unlicensed gambling operators in the local market.
Only 1 follow-up to inspection carried out in past five years
In a press release outlining the National Audit Office’s findings, since the Gambling Authority took over regulation and oversight of the market following the enactment of new laws in 2019, it has failed to provide sufficient supervision.

Director of the National Audit Office Claudia Gardberg Morner said:

“It is particularly important to supervise forms of gambling that are associated with high risks. This includes commercial online gambling and betting, which should be controlled significantly more. It is also important to exclude illegal gambling.”

The office noted that the regulator’s shortcomings were a result of the priorities it had set in terms of supervision. These include various government assignments and mandated activities.

Hedvig Tängdén, project manager for the review said of this:

“In that situation, it is especially important that the supervisory resources are used where they are most useful. To succeed in this, the authority needs to base its supervisory planning on a systematic risk analysis. That doesn’t happen today.”

According to the review, the gambling regulator does not do enough to follow up on the results of any supervisory decisions. In fact, only one follow-up inspection has been carried out in the last five years. This means that the regulator has no knowledge of whether or not any errors or breaches on the part of gambling operators have been rectified.

The National Audit Office also found that the country’s gambling laws were unclear and this makes supervision of the market more difficult and has allowed a gray market to be established in Sweden. It noted that an effective sanction system is required that includes immediate consequences for violations of gambling laws.

Morner added:

“The government should clarify in which cases online gambling requires a license. That would facilitate the supervisory work”

National Audit Office Recommendations

Swedish Gambling Authority

• Create detailed and mandatory follow-up process for all inspections
• Increase the efficiency and frequency of inspections for licensed and unlicensed gambling operators

Swedish Government

• Ensure that the Gaming Authority has the provisions to carry out effective supervision
• Provide the Gambling Authority with exact details of the scope of its responsibilities
• Revisit the Gambling Act to clarify cases where online gambling is covered by the act

Thomas Nielsen

Gambling industry journalist with a background in online poker and trading. Covering the regulated U.S Sports industry and the exciting world of online poker.