A three-month evaluation period for a new Swedish gambling law by the European Commission has ended and the bill can now move to the now move to the country’s Parliament.
The bill proposes dividing the gambling into three regulatory areas—online gambling, gambling for public interest such as lotteries and bingo and finally state-owned casinos and slot machines.
The bill includes provisions for prevention and treatment of problem gamblers, regulations concerning bonuses and withdrawal of funds, and a requirement that ISPs warn people browsing the web concerning sites that are not licensed.
“Unregulated gambling has taken over and gambling is used in criminal activities. It is 14 years since the first of a line of gambling inquiries was appointed. It is now time for us to move from words to action and regain control of the Swedish gambling market,” said Sweden’s minister for public administration, Ardalan Shekarabi in a press statement
“The gambling act now being proposed will mean that anyone operating in the Swedish gambling market must have an authorized license and that operators without a license will be shut out. There must be stronger consumer protection in place for gambling, and the negative effects of gambling must be limited. A new offence, gambling fraud, will be introduced and a special cooperation council will be established to tackle match fixing.:
The bill will allow operators to offer a variety of forms of gambling, including online bingo, virtual slots, and table games such as roulette and poker. Sports betting will be permitted, with certain sports excluded such as the local Swedish trotting.
Swedish officials have said they expect licensing to begin in August. Regulations won’t officially begin until the start of 2019. Licensing fees will be about €40,000 for gambling services, and just under €70,000 for offering gambling and sports betting services jointly. Licensed firms would also pay an 18 percent tax on gross gaming revenue.
