Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority, has continued its enforcement campaign against illegal gambling by issuing a ban against Yomoly Ltd. The
Spelinspektionen, the Swedish Gambling Authority, has continued its enforcement campaign against illegal gambling by issuing a ban against Yomoly Ltd. The regulator found that the company was offering online betting and casino services to players in Sweden without holding the necessary Swedish gaming licence, a clear breach of the Swedish Gambling Act. The regulator reiterated its core mission, stating, “ The Swedish Gambling Authority prioritises measures that contribute to gambling taking place at operators that have a Swedish gaming licence.” This Yomoly ban is just the latest in a widening black market crackdown, which has recently seen Spelinspektionen issue similar prohibition orders against unlicensed operators like Altacore NV and Liquid Entertainment NV.
The persistent struggle Spelinspektionen faces against the black market is rooted in a well known legal loophole within the current Swedish Gambling Act. The law’s “directional criterion” means that illegal gambling operators are only considered to be “targeting” Sweden if they actively use the Swedish language or the Swedish krona (SEK) on their platforms. This has made gambling regulation enforcement extremely difficult, as unlicensed operators can simply operate in English and use Euros to claim they are not targeting Swedish consumers, even while accepting their play. This flaw has been a major factor in Sweden’s poor channelisation rate.
To close this critical loophole, a Swedish government review of the Swedish Gambling Act has recommended scrapping the “directional criterion” entirely. It would be replaced by a new “participant criterion.” This legal change would mean that if a person physically located in Sweden can access and participate in an online game, that game automatically falls under Swedish gambling regulation. This new standard would force unlicensed operators to take active technical measures, such as geoblocking Swedish IP addresses, to avoid prosecution. This is a key part of Spelinspektionen’s future enforcement strategy.
The intense focus on gambling regulation in Sweden is not limited to the black market. In a major domestic case, the Court of Appeal in Jönköping recently imposed a three million kronor (approx. €260,000) fine on the state owned operator, Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG). The court’s decision, which overturned a lower court’s ruling, sided with Spelinspektionen that ATG had violated Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations by failing to conduct sufficient due diligence. In a separate administrative decision, the regulator’s rejection of a public benefit gaming licence for the Kornhults Idrottsklubb sports club was also upheld by a court, further strengthening Spelinspektionen’s regulatory authority.
The Spelinspektionen ban against Yomoly Ltd is another clear example of the regulator’s reactive “whack a mole” enforcement strategy against the black market. While necessary for player protection, these individual prohibition orders do little to address the systemic issue fuelling illegal gambling in Sweden: a flawed Swedish Gambling Act. The current “directional criterion” is a significant loophole that sophisticated unlicensed operators easily exploit by avoiding Swedish language and currency, thus undermining the legal gambling regulation framework and negatively impacting the channelisation rate.
The proposed shift to a “participant criterion” is a radical and necessary step to modernise Swedish gambling regulation. This change would effectively force all operators to adopt geoblocking for Swedish IPs or face legal action. This is a much stronger enforcement tool for Spelinspektionen and brings Sweden more in line with other stringent regulatory models. It shifts the burden of proof from the regulator (proving targeting) to the operator (proving they are actively blocking Sweden), which could significantly improve channelisation, especially for the problematic online casino vertical.
The simultaneous news of the ATG AML fine is also significant. It demonstrates that Spelinspektionen is applying pressure not just to the black market but also to its own state owned licensees, demanding higher AML compliance standards. This dual focus on both unlicensed illegal gambling and the compliance of licensed operators, like ATG, suggests a comprehensive tightening of Swedish gambling regulation. However, the industry body BOS has argued that these measures are insufficient without also addressing the uncompetitive restrictions (e.g., on bonuses) on legal operators, which remains the core driver for players seeking out unlicensed operators in the first place.
