Swedish Court Reduces Genesis and Aspire Global Penalty Fees

Sweden’s Administrative Court has ruled that the penalty fees issued to Genesis Global and Aspire Global for breaching self-exclusion regulations should be reduced.

Spelinspektionen, the gambling regulator in Sweden, ordered Genesis to pay a penalty of SEK4m (€382,757) in March, while Aspire was issued a penalty of SEK3m in April related to its AG Communications Sweden subsidiary. Licensed operators in Sweden are required to integrate with the Spelpaus.se self-exclusion system as part of new laws that came into effect on January 1.

According to the regulator, Genesis and Aspire, both of which hold licences in the country, did not adhere to these rules. Some consumers that had self-excluded said they were able to gamble on sites operated by Genesis, while AG and Aspire cited issues with integrating with Spelpaus.se as the reason for non-compliance.

The Administrative Court agreed with the regulator that both of the operators should face punishment, stating Spelinspektionen was right to issue warnings and penalty fees.

The Court also agreed with the decision to calculate the penalty fees based on each of the operator’s gross turnover, before paid profits. However, the Court estimated that each operator’s turnover was lower than the regulator had calculated, and therefore ruled the penalty fees should be reduced to reflect this finding.