Sweden Clamps Down on Unlicensed Gambling with New Law Proposal

The new law proposal was submitted on December 20. If Swedish politicians vote in favor of the legislation it is supposed to come into force on July 1, 2023.

The Swedish minister for financial markets Niklas Wykman commented on the reasons for the proposal:

Through these proposals, the Government is taking important steps in the fight against illegal gambling and match-fixing, which is a source of revenue for organized crime. These proposals help to create better order in the gambling market, improve law enforcement and increase protection for Swedish consumers.

Niklas Wykman, minister for financial markets, Sweden

The Swedish government further elaborated that they are introducing these new rules as they do not want dishonest gambling companies to be able to lure people into addiction and criminals to be able to make money from match-fixing.

Swedish Government Wants to Fight Match-Fixing

The main issue the new law proposal is trying to tackle is the so-called match-fixing. The large and rapid turnover of money in gambling creates significant risks of exploitation by illegal operators and of manipulation of betting-related sporting events and often leads to match-fixing.

The problem of match-fixing ranges from the criminality of individual athletes or officials to organized criminal networks and is therefore a priority issue and part of the government’s efforts to reduce serious crime.

Both Spelinspektionen (The Swedish Gambling Authority) and Statskontoret (The Swedish Agency for Public Management) have concluded that more needs to be done to combat illegal gambling in general and match-fixing in particular.

Consequently, the goal of the proposal submitted this week is to reduce the negative implications of gambling and create greater security in the Swedish gambling market by excluding illegal operators altogether and counteracting match-fixing.

What Does the Proposal Entail?

The question is how the Swedish government is going to achieve those goals. In the proposal, politicians have suggested a few concrete measures that could help.

They want the government to have the right to decide on what payment processing information the payment service providers should be obliged to provide. This measure will help create a more effective system for blocking payments to unlicensed gambling.

Furthermore, the proposal includes a measure allowing the gambling regulator Spelinspektionen to purchase online gambling services under a concealed identity, so-called test purchases, in order to check compliance with the Gaming Act’s licensing requirements and promotion bans. This measure will help with further control of the gambling operators active in Sweden.

Another suggested measure is for gaming companies and sports federations to be able to process a wider range of personal data to combat match-fixing. And last but not least, it is proposed that gambling companies should be obliged to provide the police with information needed for investigations into gambling-related offenses.