Sweden Riksdag Passes New Gambling Legislation

The proposal to introduce new online gambling supplier licences in Sweden had been in doubt after the change of government. However, the Riksdag has finally approved the move along with other changes to gambling legislation.

Spelinspektionen had already pencilled in a meeting in Stockholm on December 7 to provide information on the B2B licence regime for gaming suppliers. It has said that the application process will open on March 1, 2023.

The Swedish government proposed the introduction of B2B supplier licences in an attempt to boost channelisation. The software licences will be required from July 1, 2023. Spelinspektionen has advised suppliers to start preparing applications with the aim to submit them from March 1 in order to make the deadline.

The application fee has been set at SEK120,000 (around €10,000), and the regulator expects to initially issue about 70 licences. Only operators that work in the regulated market will be accepted for licences.

The bill also included more measures to exclude unlicensed gambling from the Swedish market, expanding the existing prohibition on promoting and advertising unlicensed gaming. Some proposed changes were not introduced, including plans to moderate the marketing of licensed gaming and to change the rules on slot games on ferries between Sweden and Finland.

Meanwhile, a permit will no longer be needed to exhibit entertainment games such as pinball, car games and LAN gaming.