Swedish B2B licensing requirement confirmed
Sweden’s Riksdag votes to retain gambling marketing at current risk levels while approving B2B licensing regime
The Swedish Parliament has voted on policy proposals which will see updates to the country’s Gambling Act 2018, with confirmation ofa licensing framework for B2B suppliers.
MPs voted on 17 amendments put forward in the Enhanced Gambling Regulation Bill, which would affect the entire sector. The amendments were recommended by the cultural committee, Kulturutskottets.
The Riksdag gave the green light to licensing requirements for B2B suppliers, which has been discussed throughout the year.
The changes to the law would come into force on 1 July 2023, and the committee noted that these licences should last for a maximum of five years.
The licences would come with a minimum associated fee of SEK5,000 (£396.98) and a maximum of 10% of the business’ turnover in the last financial year.
The report stated: “The committee initially notes that there is a need to modernise the gambling regulations in light of, among other things, the rapid digital development and changed range of game forms.
“At the same time that gambling legislation is adapted to new circumstances on the gambling market, the legislation must be legal and clear. The consumer perspective must be clear. A starting point for the regulation is also that gambling should not increase.
“The committee therefore welcomes the bill’s proposal that a licence requirement for software be introduced into the Gaming Act with the aim of excluding unlicensed gaming. It is important to prevent unlicensed actors from operating in the Swedish market,” the report added.
The Riksdag has also assessed the restructuring of state-owned operator Svenska Spel.
The Parliament agreed with the committee that the planned division of the operator should go ahead and there should be no deviation from this action.
Svenska Spel is set to be divested into one branch for competitive forms of gambling and another for “monopolistic” forms of gambling.
The Riksdag also agreed to investigate the use of video game loot boxes. The bill put forward by the committee said: “Lottery and casino-like features in computer games are a relatively new phenomenon. It is often about children and young people who come into contact with such elements through games in the form of so-called loot boxes.”
One proposal from the Kulturutskottets that was rejected by Parliament is that gambling advertising should be classified under the same banner as smoking and alcohol.
Alcohol marketing in Sweden must not be intrusive and must not encourage people to drink.
Instead, it has been suggested that audiences should be warned of the risks of gambling, with no restrictions to be put in place on daytime advertising.
A proposal for an “examination of bonuses” for authorised B2C operators was rejected by the Riksdag, but an exemption from “bonus limitations” was permitted to promote “games for good causes”.
At the moment, operators can only promote bonuses as a one-time customer signup incentive.