Global Gaming Agrees with SafeEnt License Revocation in Sweden

Global Gaming-owned SafeEnt has had its license revocation appeal struck down by the Swedish Court of Appeal. Global Gaming will not seek further action in the case.

SafeEnt’s License Revocation Upheld by Court of Appeal

Global Gaming subsidiary SafeEnt will not appeal the latest license revocation decision upheld by the Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal.

SafeEnt, which runs the Ninja Casino and Spellandbet.com brands, has had its license revoked by the Swedish gaming regulator, the Spelinspektionen. The decision prompted a series of legislative actions on the part of the operator.  

SafeEnt lost its license back in June 2019. That was only six months after launching on what was then a newly-regulated gambling market.

The Spelinspektionen argued that SafeEnt had breached the existing provisions of the country’s Gambling Act. Compliance failure forced the regulator to suspend the company’s commercial license. Numerous other parties have breached specific regulations and have suffered a similar fate.

In any event, SafeEnt made an appeal to the Administrative Court. It was promptly rejected and led to a second appeal which was struck down by the Court of Appeal.

Court of Appeal Councilor Anders Poulsen said that the court had tried to balance between the reasons for and against the revocation of SafeEnt’s license.

However, because of the nature of the violation, Poulsen and his colleagues believed that a warning would not properly reflect the transgression. He stressed that upholding rules to guarantee consumer protection was what matters the most in this case and hence why regulatory measures existed.

Global Gaming Agrees with Ruling and Will Learn from It

With the brand’s appeal defeated in the Court of Appeal, Global Gaming doesn’t intend to lodge any further objections to the ruling. If the company chooses to, however, it can legally turn to the Supreme Administrative Court and seek a reinstatement of its license for the SafeEnt brand.

The Administrative Court of Appeal upheld the Spelinspektionen ruling, agreeing that SafeEnt had violated specific criteria of the Gaming Act and specifically to do with deposit limits, customer support and bonus offers, as well as anti-money laundering measures.

Global Gaming has responded by welcoming the ruling and arguing that an unambiguous decision – such as the one reached in the court – allows the company to adapt its products in a way that ensures future compliance with authorities.

Global Gaming assured that the ruling would not impact the company’s plans and activities, with the newly-appointed board taking heed of the ruling and agreeing with the views and opinions expressed by both the Spelinspektionen and the Administrative Court of Appeal.

Commenting on these developments, the company said that the new executives are still settling in their positions. Once the directors have stepped in fully, they would carry out an examination of the company’s brands to ensure that those are in compliance with regulatory norms.

Global Gaming noted that the Administrative Court of Appeal’s ruling was sensible and because of that, the company had no further intentions to press the matter.  

In the meantime, Sweden has been busy assessing the impact Covid-19 has had on the iGaming industry and consumer well-being. A recent study confirmed that high-risk gamblers tended to gamble more because of the pandemic.

Sweden has also approved a set of new measures designed to introduce gambling limits and further protect consumers.

Following the original license suspension, Global Gaming launched a new brand with Finnplay Group – Nano Casino. Finnplay Group did attract some negative attention from the Spelinspektinonen.

The regulator described the collaboration between Finnplay Group’s subsidiary Viral and Global Gaming “highly inappropriate.”