Kindred Group considers appeal against SEK10.9m SGA fine

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) has hit Kindred Group with a fine of SEK10.9m (£860,000) and a warning following an investigation into its Spooniker subsidiary.

The SGA investigation found Spooniker to have shortcomings in its anti-money laundering (AML) and terrorist financing procedures.

In Q3 2021, the SGA began investigating whether Spooniker had sufficient knowledge of its customer base to prevent money laundering.

The review covered internal procedures and guidelines as well as how Spooniker managed customers’ risk profiles and its customer awareness measures.

Following the conclusion of the investigation in February 2022, the SGA concluded that Spooniker had failed in its work with customer knowledge and had not taken sufficient measures to assess the risk of their operation being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.

However, Kindred has confirmed it is “considering a potential appeal” against the fine and the warning, and pointed to its concerted effort to improve its frameworks in Sweden.

In response, Kindred stated it has implemented several improvements to strengthen its processes, including improved AML procedures, introducing financial indicators and backstops according to recurring income, as well as expanding its customer risk assessments.

Kindred has also bolstered its AML team to manage the ramping up of the frameworks, as well as increasing its communications with the financial authorities.

In a release, Kindred said: “Kindred fully shares the SGA’s ambition to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. AML is a priority in Kindred’s compliance and sustainability framework.

“Kindred would welcome increased clarity from the SGA and the legislation on what objective and effective AML risk parameters should be considered when assessing a customer’s risk profile,” the statement concluded.

Elsewhere, the SGA also hit ATG with a SEK6m fine for its insufficient anti-money laundering measures.