Swedish regulators hand out fines for bonus policy violators

Swedish gaming regulators are very serious about enforcing their new regulations on deposit bonuses and other promotions used by gambling operators to attract and retain customers. Last week alone they handed out nearly $1.5 million in fines to operators who ran afoul of the new rules and issued warnings to several others.
Betway Ltd and Mandalorian Technologies Ltd bore the brunt of the Spelinspektionen regulatory body’s wrath in the bonus battle. Betway got off relatively easy with with a fine of 5 million SEK ($520,000 USD). Mandalorian Technologies Ltd. was quite as lucky and was dinged for 9 million SEK ($935,000 USD). Both companies have three weeks to appeal the fines, though both were cited for repeated violations of the bonus rules.
In a statement to the press, as reported on by igaminbusiness.com, a Spelinspektionen described its actions saying, “The main purpose of the new gambling regulation, which came into force on January 1, 2019, is to strengthen consumer protection and reduce the negative effects of gambling,” Spelinspektionen said in a statement. The limitation on bonuses is contained in the law to reduce social and economic damages and problem gambling. The Spelinspektionen will therefore continue to focus on supervision of this area.”
Spelinspektionen officials noted that both operators had been warned about bonus violations in the recent past, and had offered “some compliance” neither one had reached a level that could be described as “full compliance.”
Since the Swedish gambling market liberalized earlier this year, operators have faced a dizzying number of changes regarding their abilities to market bonuses and advertise to consumers.
Both operators are under a three week deadline to appeal the fines.