In a memorandum from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Swedish Government has proposed that Sweden sign and ratify the so-called Macolin Convention. This convention regulates the cooperation of the member states of the Council of Europe in the work against match-fixing.

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) welcomes such a signing and at the same time wants to point out that private and listed gambling companies must also have access to the bodies within the Council of Europe that are responsible for the issue, the so-called Group of Copenhagen and above all its Follow-up Committee.

Today, only full access is given to state betting companies, despite the majority of the Swedish, European and global sports betting market taking place with private or listed betting companies. Excluding the latter means a serious setback in the joint work against match-fixing.

“We welcome Sweden’s signing of the Macolin Convention. At the same time, it must be emphasized that it is outdated and unjustifiable to exclude licensed privately owned and listed gambling companies from the joint work against match-fixing. We urge Sweden to push for a change, so that all licensed gambling companies get full access to all the Council of Europe’s bodies on the matter, not just the state-owned gambling companies,” says Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General, The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling.

Finland announced reforms to its iGaming licensing system, set to take effect by early 2026 and licensed operations to commence on 1 January 2027. With a market size of 1 billion Euros, Trumo Finance Oy, a fintech company specialising in instant open banking payment solutions, has strategically launched ahead of these regulated changes.

Trumo with its head office in Helsinki, is regulated by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FFSA). The business was explicitly set up to service the Finnish market by co-founders Martin Prantner, who has 20+ years in iGaming platforms, engineering and scale-up businesses; and Sari Aitokallio, former co-founder of Finnplay Technology, a gaming platform business. The leadership team also comprises Roope Lindroos, who has experience in fintech and payments across multiple markets. Together, their diverse expertise positions Trumo to redefine instant open banking payment solutions for Finnish iGaming operators.

Martin Prantner, CEO of Trumo, said: “Finland has been slow to reform its iGaming Market from a monopoly to a licensed-based system. Sweden, Denmark, France, the UK, Holland, and even Germany have already implemented a licensed-based system over the last several years. Trumo is here to help operators meet the new compliance and licensing standards while offering players a seamless payment experience.

Our team, with over 50+ years of collective experience in fintech, open banking payments, iGaming, and engineering solutions in Finland and the wider Nordics, is well-equipped to navigate the evolving landscape of the iGaming market. We are committed to delivering our expertise to our Finnish iGaming operator customers, ensuring they are well-prepared for the upcoming regulatory changes.”

Roope Lindroos, CCO further added: “We have seen a shift in attitude and corporate values in other Nordic regulated markets. The biggest operators and suppliers in the market now fully operate under the established licensing scheme. This shall be the same in Finland, whereby to make the regulation work, this puts extra responsibility on payment suppliers only to work with fully regulated operators that have the highest ethical standards and embrace AML and safer gambling. With our team’s combined heritage in Finland, and our main hub in Helsinki combined with our R&D Centre in one of the world’s leading Fintech countries, Tallinn, Estonia, we are confident that we can offer superior solutions in the payments vertical, setting a new standard in the industry.”