Finland Proposes Lotteries Act Reform

Finland’s Ministry of the Interior has launched a consultation on proposals for a wide-ranging reform of the Finnish Lotteries Act.

The proposed reforms would allow monopoly operator Veikkaus to operate B2B activities for the first time. The proposals would allow Veikkaus to create a subsidiary to provide gambling products and services to other companies. The reforms also include increased consumer protections and measures to tackle the unlicensed gambling market.

The marketing of “particularly harmful gambling games, such as slot machines” would be prohibited, although there would be no new restrictions on the marketing of sports betting products.

The National Police Board would be empowered to compile a blacklist of internationally licensed gambling sites that target customers in Finland. Local banks and payment processors would be required to block payments to their sites.

The ministry said: “The basic premise of the reform is that Finland’s gambling system will also in the future be based on the state monopoly in line with the government programme.”