Finland’s long-awaited gambling reform is nearing the finish line. However, the road there has been anything but smooth. This week, parliament rejected all significant amendments proposed by opposition parties, clearing the way for the government’s online gambling bill to move ahead without notable alterations. A final vote is expected in the next few days.
The Bill Remains Mostly Unchanged
The upcoming legislation aims to dismantle Finland’s long-standing online gambling monopoly and replace it with a multi-licensing system. Although the core framework remains popular among governing parties, the bill has attracted fierce debates about consumer protection, advertising restrictions, and the pace of liberalization.
Opposition lawmakers sought stricter regulations, proposing a series of radical changes. The most prominent was a push to raise the legal gambling age from 18 to 20. Others suggested mandatory two-factor authentication at every login, universal deposit and loss limits across all licensed operators, and an outright ban on gambling bonuses. A separate set of amendments introduced a proposal to lift the gambling tax rate to 25.5% of gross gaming revenue.
Advertising was an especially contentious topic. Opposition parties sought to prohibit television and radio advertisements for licensed gambling products, excluding Veikkaus, Finland’s current monopoly operator. They also demanded a total ban on gambling ads in sports and public events, similar warning labels as those for tobacco, and restrictions on direct marketing to anyone under the age of 24.
Market Liberalization Marks a Major Milestone for Finland
Despite fierce discussions, none of the amendments survived the vote. Lawmakers considered each amendment as a single package and rejected all of them by a decisive 153–21 margin, with 25 MPs absent. The overwhelming nature of the defeat underlined how most proponents of the amendments came from the Green and the Left Alliance parties, with little support from other opposition forces.
Antti Koivula, chief compliance officer at Hippos ATG, a new gaming company on the Finnish market, noted that the result was inevitable. He suggested that only a dramatic change in government could lead to any meaningful changes in the legislation. Even in that unlikely occurrence, amendments would remain unlikely in the near term.
The law is not perfect, but it is a long-awaited and meaningful step forward. Personally, I see this as a greatly positive turning point for Finland.
Antti Koivula, Hippos ATG chief compliance officer
With the amendments dismissed, Finland moves closer to opening its online gambling market in 2027. Developing the new licensing regime and approving operators ahead of launch will likely take most of 2026. With the April 2027 national elections approaching, the focus remains on implementation rather than reinvention.