Finland's Police Board Orders Six Gambling Marketing Fines Paid in 2026, All Against Individuals

Finland's gambling supervisor has ordered six conditional fines paid this year for illegal gambling marketing, every one of them against a person rather than a company, while threatened fines for companies run to €1.2 million. It is the board's last full year in charge, and under the new Gambling Act a prohibition issued now can disqualify a licence applicant in 2027.

• Finland's National Police Board has issued four prohibition decisions in 2026 against illegal gambling marketing on websites and social media, and has ordered six conditional fines to be paid, according to a release published on 14 October
• Conditional fines attached to prohibitions ranged from €30,000 to €200,000 for individuals and from €100,000 to €1.2 million for companies; the six ordered paid were all against individuals, at €20,000 to €100,000
• The board says both totals are clearly higher than in previous years but gives no earlier figures and names none of the parties
• Under the new Gambling Act, a prohibition for marketing in breach of the Lotteries Act issued after 1 September 2024 and within two years of the assessment rules out a licence applicant, and Finland had 75 applications and had approved none by September
• The board hands licensing and supervision to the Lupa- ja valvontavirasto on 1 July 2027, when the market opens, conditional fines for marketing pass to the Market Court and prohibition decisions must be published

Four Prohibitions, Six Fines Enforced and No Names

The Gambling Administration of Finland's National Police Board (Poliisihallitus) has issued four prohibition decisions so far in 2026 for illegal gambling marketing on websites and social media, and has ordered six conditional fines (uhkasakko) to be paid, according to a release published on 14 October. The board says both numbers are clearly higher than in previous years, but it gives no earlier totals and does not identify any of the parties.

A conditional fine is set alongside a prohibition and becomes payable only if the prohibition is ignored. The fines set this year ranged from €30,000 to €200,000 for natural persons and from €100,000 to €1.2 million for companies, according to the board. The six it has ordered paid were all against natural persons, and ranged from €20,000 to €100,000. The English version of the release says the six were imposed; the Finnish text says they were ordered to be paid. The release does not say how much has been collected.

Juhani Wallinvirta, Head of Group at the National Police Board, said the purpose of a conditional fine "is not to punish illegal activities, but to reinforce compliance with the prohibition decision and to ensure that illegal marketing actually ceases". Under existing law only Veikkaus Oy may market gambling in mainland Finland, he said. The board says it sets a fine when marketing continues after a warning, sizes it by the scope of the breach and the payer's ability to pay, and names social media and gambling livestreams as the typical channels.

Streamers Have Been the Target Before

In September 2025 the board announced prohibitions against two social media influencers, each backed by a €30,000 conditional fine, and ordered a third influencer to pay a €30,000 fine for marketing gambling after being prohibited. All three had done affiliate marketing for several non-Finnish gambling companies, mainly on Twitch and Kick and from outside Finland, according to the board. In March 2025 the Helsinki Administrative Court upheld a €33,000 conditional fine against a Finnish streamer. Companies have been targeted by other means: after the Supreme Administrative Court declined in December 2024 to hear an appeal by BML Group, a Betsson subsidiary, against a 2023 marketing prohibition, the board added the company to its payment-blocking list.

The new Gambling Act (10/2026) takes full effect on 1 July 2027, when betting, online casino and online bingo open to licensed competition. The Police Board is the competent authority until 30 June 2027; after that the Lupa- ja valvontavirasto, which the law firm Borenius translates as the Finnish Supervisory Agency, licenses and supervises the market, according to the Act. Licensed operators may market only through a closed list of channels, and all other gambling marketing is prohibited; Borenius reads that as ruling out affiliate and influencer marketing. Conditional fines backing a marketing prohibition will be ordered paid by the Market Court on the regulator's application, not by the regulator itself. Penalty payments for directing unlicensed gambling marketing at Finland can reach 4% of turnover, capped at €5 million, for a company and 4% of income, capped at €40,000, for an individual. Marketing prohibition decisions must be published.

The Fines Land on Streamers Because Streamers Can Be Reached

Every fine ordered paid this year fell on an individual, while the largest threatened sums sit with companies. The release does not explain the split, but it fits the cross-border limit every national supervisor meets: an influencer addressing Finns is identifiable and easier to pursue, while a foreign operator can absorb or ignore a threatened fine, and the one company case the board has publicised in detail, BML Group, was enforced through payment blocking. On the board's figures, a €1.2 million ceiling is so far a signal rather than a sanction. The 2027 regime keeps the conditional fine and adds penalty payments of up to €5 million, but both still depend on reaching the party that has to pay.

A 2026 Prohibition Is Now a Licensing Decision

The more consequential change is in the Act's reliability test. Section 10 says an applicant cannot be considered reliable if, in the two years before the assessment and after 1 September 2024, it received a prohibition or penalty for gambling or marketing contrary to the Lotteries Act, and the test extends to board members, executives and anyone holding 25% or more. With 75 applications pending and, as the board said in June, most applicants foreign, a prohibition against a company this year is in effect a decision about who can be licensed next year. The board does not say whether any of its four prohibitions concerns an applicant. Alongside the tax rules that make unlicensed play costlier for Finns, that gives operators a strong reason to stop marketing to Finland now rather than in July 2027.

The Police Board is closing its time as gambling supervisor by enforcing harder against the marketers it can reach, and naming none of them. Its successor inherits public decisions, a court in the loop and a licensing test that turns this year's prohibitions into next year's refusals.