Sweden aims to strengthen consumer protection

Spelinspektionen looking into fine scale for MLA violations.

An offense is an offense in the eyes of the Swedish Gaming Authority, and in some cases, certain offenses are just as bad, if not worse, than others.

Today, lawmakers in Sweden released a memorandum with the hopes of increasing the fine for Money Laundering Act violations to equal the same maximum amounts as Gambling Act violations. Currently, violations of the MLA are in some cases significantly lower than violations of the Gambling Act, which according to the memorandum is an unsatisfactory arrangement because in many cases violations against the Money Laundering Act can be considered more serious than violations against the Gambling Act.

“The proposal provides better opportunities to combat criminal activity in connection with gambling,” said Niklas Wykman, the Minister of Financial Markets of Sweden.

The memorandum also took aim at telephone sales for gaming services.

It’s being proposed that written requirement must be required to validate sales of gaming services over the telephone. Thus, an agreement is only entered into when a consumer accepts an offer in writing after the conversation on the telephone. If this practice is not followed then the agreement will be void.

It’s being proposed that the higher MLA fines and written requirement go into effect on 1 April 2024.

Jarrod LeBlanc

Jarrod serves as Casino City's associate editor and helps produce and edit all of our weekly newsletters, as well as the GPWA Times Magazine. He has more than six years of experience as a writer and editor and enjoys playing fantasy sports, but spends most of his time with his family, running and coaching youth sports. Contact Jarrod at jarrod@casinocity.com and follow him on Twitter at @CasinoCityJL.