Spelinspektionen (SGA)

by

Adam Maclean

Previous to January 2019, gambling was under the control of the state in Sweden, and online gambling in particular was not regulated at all. Enter the Spelinspektionen, or Swedish Gaming Authority - a new and improved system to organize, license and regulate online gambling and the Swedish gambling market as a whole.

The Spelinspektionen was introduced to supervise all gambling companies offering their services to Swedish players, whether they are based in Sweden or operating from other countries. Since the introduction of the new regulations, the SGA has built a solid reputation and is widely known as a regulator that is not afraid to enforce its rules.

The Swedish Gaming Authority

The main aim of the SGA is to achieve a gambling market that is healthy and safe by providing gambling activities in a controlled environment. It achieves this by ensuring that the companies it licenses are following current regulations, in accordance with the National Gambling Act (2018:1138), the Act on the organization of certain automatic games (1982:636) and the Act (2017:630) on measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. There are six types of license available:

State game - available only to wholly owned state limited liability companies (currently only Svenska Spel)
Games for non-profit purposes - for non-profit associations that provide games for the benefit of public purposes, such as county lotteries
Commercial online games - open to anyone, includes activities such as online casinos, bingo or slot machines
Betting - for example online sports betting
Land Based Commercial Game - activities such as land-based casinos or poker tournaments
Gambling on ships - license to provide games on ships in international traffic

In order to obtain and keep one of these licenses, gambling companies must adhere to certain conditions. According to the Gambling Act, games must have a high level of consumer protection and security, the negative consequences of gambling must be limited, and games should not be used for any kind of criminal activity. There are also directives governing how a company conducts its marketing, and licensees can only offer a bonus to a player once, even if the license covers several brands.

Dispute Resolution

Despite the regulator's commitment to providing a safer gambling environment, The SGA does not mediate any disputes between players and licensees. Instead, players are directed to the General Complaints Board (ARN), although the disputed amount must be more than SEK 1,000. You should only contact the SGA directly if you believe that an operator is in direct breach of current regulations.

If there is a complaint regarding terms and conditions which are believed to be unfair, or perhaps regarding a company's marketing strategies, it is also possible to contact the Swedish Consumer Agency.

How to check a license

While an operator does not have to be based in Sweden to offer services to Swedish players, they do have to obtain a license from the Spelinspektionen. To determine if an operator is offering their services in Sweden legitimately, it is possible to search for the company on the Spelinspektionen website and view any active gaming licenses & permits. You can find the company by name, website or license type and you will be able to view a list of websites that they are licensed to manage.

Screenshot of the active licenses search tool

As mentioned, the SGA is not afraid to impose its rules upon even its biggest operators. You can find information regarding any actions that the SGA has taken against operators, such as revoking or suspending licenses, or enforcing payment of penalty fees for breaching regulations.

Responsible Gaming

There are various measures that a license holder must have in place to promote responsible gaming and prevent excessive gambling. The SGA takes a very serious approach to player safety in this regard, and maintains tight controls on factors such as the offering of bonuses to players, age limits and self-exclusion.

One such measure that all operators must implement is that responsible gaming logos must be displayed at the top of the operator's website, and must remain visible and accessible even when the page is scrolled. These logos must link to:

Spelpaus - to provide the ability to self-exclude.
Spelgränser (game limits) - to provide the ability to set limits on money, such as deposit limits, or time spent gambling.
Självtest (self-test) - to provide players the ability to test themselves regarding their gambling bahaviour.

Part of the reregulation of the Swedish gambling market included the introduction of a comprehensive national self-exclusion service, Spelpaus.se. This allows players to self-exclude from every gambling company that holds a license in Sweden at the same time, and includes all online, land-based or on-track gambling. A period of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months or until further notice (minimum 12 months) can be selected, and once applied it is impossible to cancel it or end it before the specified time has expired.