‘Don’t let regulators get away with illegal frameworks’, says Betsson CEO
Ulrik Bengtsson says Holland’s attempt to re-regulate has been “a monumental failure”
Betsson CEO Ulrik Bengtsson has called for more operators to stand up for themselves when faced with “illegal” gaming regulations.
Speaking to EGR Intel, Bengtsson said the recent changes to the Dutch gaming landscape were symptomatic of the increasingly complex regulatory environments being forced on operators.
“It’s not only the legal landscape but also the actual behaviour of the national states that are changing quite a lot so it’s important to not let the states get away with it,” he said.
Bengtsson said it was key for operators and regulators to have good dialogue and work together to understand each other’s views.
Earlier this week, the Swedish operator called on the EU to take action against the Dutch regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), claiming its new enforcement policy was not compliant with European law.
Bengtsson called the political movements halting liberalisation in Holland a “monumental failure”.
“The Dutch have been scrambling since 2012 to amend a gaming law from 1964 that everyone has deemed to be illegal.
“Five years later they have still not managed to, and they are saying they will not manage it now going forward either,” he commented.
The firm said it would resist any enforcement action by the Dutch KSA.
On expanding Betsson’s reach into new jurisdictions, the CEO said the firm was running out of regulated markets.
“We’ve said very clearly we are looking to grow our presence in regulated markets to grow a number of our revenues but we’re already in 11 and we’re running out of places to go.”
He looked towards the upcoming Swedish regulation as the operator’s next major move.