Swedish Gambling Authority fines Mr Green $3.62m for customer failings

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) has fined Mr Green a total of SEK 31.5m ($3.62m) for anti-money laundering and responsible gambling faults.

The online casino operator, who are a subsidiary of William Hill, was found guilty of anti-money laundering shortcomings for which it was fined SEK 1.5m. The Swedish regulator said the operator failed to take the necessary measures to assess the risk of money laundering practices and to protect customers and also received a warning.

Secondly, Mr Green was found to have failed with its duty of care to protect its players against excessive gambling and a lack of attention was paid to protecting them. The SGA mentioned how operators needed to provide feedback on a player’s behaviour and apply restrictions accordingly, but the operator didn’t take sufficient measures to help customers.

As a result, Mr Green received a warning alongside a SEK 30m penalty, taking the overall fine for both offences to SEK 31.5m.

The case was first brought to the attention of the SGA in November 2019 following customer complaints against Mr Green, who objected that there was no guidance made available regarding duty of care requirements and that operators should be given time to develop this. However, the SGA argued that chapter 14 section 1 of the Gaming Act states that operators have a "responsibility to protect players and to help them reduce their gambling when there is reason to do so."

In its ruling, the SGA said: "The investigation shows that Mr Green has not taken sufficient measures to help customers reduce their gambling when there is a reason for it. Measures in the form of feedback on players' gambling behaviour, restrictions and access restrictions should have been applied already when Mr Green judged that customers had a risk score that indicates possible gambling problems."

"In several of the examined cases, it has instead been several months before necessary restrictions or access restrictions have been taken.Thus, Mr Green is not considered to have fulfilled the requirements for duty of care in the Gaming Act and in the Gaming Ordinance."

The case follows Mr Green being fined £3m ($4.2m) by the Gambling Commission in Great Britain after it was found guilty of failing to prevent harm and money laundering.

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