Swedish Court of Appeal Lowers Sanction against Kindred from 2020

One of the largest iGaming operators across the globe, Kindred Group, secured a partial win in an ongoing dispute in Sweden over a sanction it received several years ago. On Monday, the Group confirmed the Administrative Court of Appeal in Jönköping reduced the penalty imposed against the company in 2020, which was SEK 100 million ($9.5 million).

The court’s decision effectively decreased the penalty to SEK 30 million ($2.85 million). The staggering SEK 100 million ($9.5 million) fine came after the gambling regulator in Sweden, the Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen), imposed a monetary penalty against Kindred over bonus rules violations dating back to 2019.

At the start of 2019, the Authority enforced new rules that sought to limit the incentives and inducements operators can offer to their customers. The new rules effectively prohibited financial incentives. Upon probing Kindred’s operations, Spelinspektionen uncovered that one of the company’s subsidiaries, Spooniker Ltd, offered bonuses that were in violation of the new rules.

Analyzing the bonuses offered by Kindred’s subsidiary, the Authority considered them as “financial incentives.” Subsequently, the monetary penalty against Kindred was imposed as according to the regulator, the company failed to adhere to the new regulatory framework.

“The Administrative Court of Appeal in Jönköping (Sweden) has today reduced the sanction fee that Kindred Group received in 2020 for bonus rules violations in 2019,“

reads a statement released by Kindred

Kindred Wants the Entire Fine Revoked

Receiving the penalty and guidance from the Authority, Kindred immediately implemented changes to its offering. However, the company argued that the text of the new rules was open to interpretation. Moreover, the iGaming operator sought judicial guidance to resolve the matter, outlining that it should not be punished with a fine due to vague text in the regulations concerning bonuses and incentives.

“Kindred is of the opinion that since the rules were vague, opening for different interpretations, the sanction fee should be reduced in its total,“

added the leading iGaming operator

As a result, the country’s Administrative Court reduced Kindred’s financial penalty to SEK 50 million ($4.75 million) previously. Despite the second decrease in the fine, following the Administrative Court of Appeal’s decision, the iGaming operator remains dedicated to seeing the entire penalty waived.