Swedish gambling watchdog crack downs on Goodwin NV

The prominent Swedish watchdog has targeted yet another company that it has deemed to be breaching local gambling statutes.

Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gaming regulator, has gone after another company in the local market, targeting Goodwin NV over a breach of the country’s gambling laws by offering games of chance without the necessary license to do so.

Swedish gambling watchdog issues block against another casino

Only companies licensed by Spelinspektionen may run casino-style games online. Upon closer scrutiny, the regulator established that the Curaçao-licensed operator did not hold a valid permit to do business in the country.

Specifically, the regulator named the immersion dot com website which was targeting casino games of chance to Swedish players. The regulator used the fact that Swedish was one of the supported languages on the website, along with a FAQ section, and evident marketing practices, the regulator stipulated.

As such, Goodwin NV has been deemed to be an illegal gambling operator. This was the exact argument that the regulator used in its official ruling, saying: "the company does not have a license in Sweden, […] but has a FAQ section in Swedish as well as general information in Swedish."

The operator used the license number OGL/2024/758/0228 issued by the Dutch Caribbean island jurisdiction, but even in that case, it was illegal for it to operate locally in Sweden without the say-so of Spelinspektionen.

This, the regulator argued, pointed to premeditation on the part of the website. The regulator has said that it has now blocked the website from being accessible to consumers based in the country.

Spelinspektionen has very specific and tough regimes for illegal gambling operators. The watchdog similarly targets licensed suppliers who may have offered their products to illegal gambling services that in turn target local players in the market.

Spelinspektionen stays busy against offshore gambling sites

Similarly, the regulator holds suppliers to be responsible for such transgressions. The country re-regulated its industry, issuing new licenses to local suppliers who agreed with the changes.

As to the case with Goodwin NV, this is not the only instance of a company that was targeted by the regulator recently. Earlier this month, the regulator similarly went after another Curaçao-based operator, Versus Odds BV.

The operator is said to have run the fortunepanda dot com website which was accessible to players in the market and was again found out to be marketing directly to players in the local language. Sweden has taken a hard stance against unregulated websites and has sought to limit their reach in the market.

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