Norway’s Ministry of Culture and Gender Equality has launched a consultation on the country’s new proposed Gambling Act. The new Gambling Act will replace the Lottery Act, the Totalizator Act and the previous Gambling Act.

The draft legislation is open to comments from stakeholders until 5 August. While much of the law simply consolidates aspects of the previous three acts in place, it does come updated enforcement rules.

Among the most significant parts of the new act is the introduction of “infringement fees” for operators that violate the Gambling Act, including those who target the country without a licence. In Norway, only monopolies Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto may offer online gambling.

The Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gaming had criticised the bill when it was introduced for keeping the monopoly model in place.

Regulator Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet) may require operators to pay up to 10% of turnover – before winnings are paid out – if they break the rules laid out in the Act.

In deciding the size of the fine, Lotteritilsynet may consider its preventative effect, the “gravity and duration” of the infringement, the financial capability of the offender, the degree of cooperation with the authorities and any previous violations.

If approved, the rules are set to come into force on 1 January 2023.

The Administrative Court in Linköping has rejected Mr Green’s appeal against a sanction for breaches of the Money Laundering Act and Gambling Act.

The gambling regulator Spelinspektionen had issued Mr Green with two warnings and fines totalling SEK31.5m (€3.1m) in August due to breaches of know-your-customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML) and responsible gambling rules.

The Administrative Court has ruled that Mr Green’s routines on money laundering were lacking and that it violated the Money Laundering Act’s rules on customer knowledge. It found that the two warnings issued by Spelinspektionen were “sufficient” and the penalty fees “proportionate”.

The largest fee of SEK30m relates to breaches of the operator’s duty of care on responsible gambling. A second warning and related penalty of SEK1.5m were issued for AML and KYC failings.

Spelinspektionen launched a review of Mr Green’s AML measures after receiving complaints in November 2019. It inspected 15 customer accounts, including accounts belonging to customers that Mr Green had reported to Sweden’s financial police.

Spelinspektionen said the fact that Mr Green had reported the accounts showed the operator had suspicions about possible money laundering.

The regulator noted that one customer had made deposits totalling SEK39.3m and had lost SEK3.2m despite having a declared income that hardly covered the loss. However, Mr Green had decided not to take further action to investigate possible money laundering after the customer stopped playing.

Spelinspektionen also audited five customers due to responsible gambling measures. It found that Mr Green had attempted to contact all five by email or phone due to increases in their gambling activity but that one customer had made several deposits per day on multiple occasions and had lost more than their announced taxable income for several years.

Mr Green eventually closed these customers’ accounts, but Spelinspektionen said the operator had not made sufficient contact with them to ensure they were gambling with their own funds and doing so responsibly.

Mr Green responded that some customers suspected of money laundering had not been identified due to technical problems with a new detection system that had failed to issue warnings over high-risk customers. It said the new automated system had identified a larger number of customers than expected and had placed customers in a queue according to level of risk, resulting in delays.

It added that it was now using a better case management system to help perform risk assessments and that it has increased its number of money laundering investigators to manage the increase.

AretoNet integrates its powerful analytics & automation solution with ProgressPlay and launches with seven new IGP casino & Bingo brands.

Malta-based AretoNet will provide its powerful real-time business intelligence and CRM platform services to seven new online casino brands from Inter Group Partner Holding (IGP) after a successful system integration with Progress Play.

IGP is a key partner for AretoNet, which already provides its cutting-edge marketing automation technology for 11 existing IGP casino and bingo brands, offering real-time marketing campaigns and analytics that maximise player conversion and retention.

IGP operates mainly in the UK using the 888/Dragonfish platform, as well as software from Progress Play, and focuses on online casino and bingo. The new brands, which include HIPPOZINO, MAXIPLAY, MRSUPERPLAY, MRJACKVEGAS, REDORBLACK CASINO, MRMOBI, and MRSLOT represent an exciting period of global expansion for IGP, and AretoNet believes it has the tools to help it grow its business.

AretoNet enables operators and software providers to boost their KPIs and reduce operational burden with its best-in-class technical solution. This includes artificial intelligence, automation, business intelligence and advanced segmentation.

It has a proven track record of getting results. In its two-year partnership with AretoNet, IGP has seen a 20% increase in active players, 10% increase in FTDs, and a 10% decrease in bonus costs. The operator recently signed a two-year extension to its partnership with AretoNet until 2024.

AretoNet technology enables the gaming industry to acquire, retain and reactivate players by arming it with unified data to make accurate decisions, execute campaigns and analyze their effectiveness while empowering operators to centralise their omni-channel efforts.

ProgressPlay is a full turnkey solution for white label gaming operators, providing UKGC, MGA, Irish Bookmaker and Curacao licenses, more than 2000+ casino games and over 140+ different sports.

Lars Söderlund, Business Director at IGP said: “This is an exciting time for IGP,  and we’re delighted to have AretoNet on board. It has demonstrated its technology can improve efficiency and effectiveness and get results. AretoNet is in the business of simplifying challenging marketing problems by combining everything into one easy-to-use but incredibly powerful platform, and that’s invaluable to our brands. It’s about using the best technology on the market to grow together.”   

Justin Farrugia, CEO and co-founder of AretoNet, said: “Knowledge is power, and we’re confident our solution provides our partners with the information and tools they need to move a step ahead in a competitive market. With the recent launch of our standalone and intuitive BI & advanced segmentation tool, operators can now use our product to boost any existing third-party CRM. Working closely with our partners and clients is the main reason why we succeed, which is why partnering with IGP has always been a great option for us. We look forward to helping them achieve their goals.”

ProgressPlay CEO Itai Loewenstein said: “We are delighted to integrate with AretoNet, as, once again, ProgressPlay has shown the platform to facilitate this new BI and automation technology, serving as further evidence of our capability to seamlessly support for innovation.”