Spelinspektionen Bans Small House BV for Targeting Sweden without License

The Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen/SGA) announced that it has banned yet another operator over the unlawful provision of gambling to Swedish customers. As reported by the regulator, its action against Small House BV comes as a result of the company targeting the Swedish market.

Small House BV operates the bcgame.top, which, the Spelinspektionen said, actively targeted people in Sweden. After examining the website, the authority learned that it used Swedish currency and had affiliates that marketed in Swedish.

The Spelinspektionen also concluded that bcgame.top did not prevent Swedish players from interacting or playing with the website.

The Swedish regulator learned that bcgame.top’s owner, Small House BV, is a Curaçao-based company that operates a multitude of websites, including bc.game, hash.game, bc.app, bc.fun, bcgame.ph, bcgame.ai, bc.casino, bc.co, bcga.me, bcgame.im and bc.online.

According to the announcement, the Spelinspektionen’s ban applies with immediate effect. Small House BV can try to appeal the decision.

The Authority Continues Its Crackdown on Unlicensed Gambling

This is the latest regulatory action against an unlicensed gambling company in Sweden. The Spelinspektionen issued a reminder that it uses a variety of factors to determine whether an unlicensed company is actively targeting Sweden.

Companies that allow Swedish consumers to register and play, offer information in Swedish, accept Swedish payment methods and promote their products in the Swedish language risk regulatory action.

The Spelinspektionen recently cracked down on more unlicensed gambling operators, including MRSL, which offered unlicensed gambling and, according to the regulator, actively targeted Swedish consumers.

In June, the Spelinspektionen banned four more operators for similar reasons.

The Spelinspektionen Fined Licensed Operators over Violations

In other news, the Swedish gambling regulator recently fined a licensed gambling operator, namely Folkspel Ideell Förening, over insufficient routines for the prevention of underage gambling. The gambling company was reprimanded and slammed with a sanction of almost $50,000.

This followed a $666,000 sanction against Kanon Gaming, which, according to the Spelinspektionen, failed to demonstrate sufficient protection for customers who show signs of problem gambling.

In other news related to the gambling market in Sweden, the government just implemented a tax hike, increasing the 18% tax on gambling profits to 22%. While the government argues that its research shows that this is a perfect tax for the local market, disgruntled gambling operators and organizations argued that it would hurt their business.

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) was very outspoken about its concerns warning that the tax hike could undermine the Swedish market’s progress.