Many of the leading software providers in the iGaming industry have their roots in Sweden, most notably NetEnt, Play' N GO and Evolution Gaming. According to CUSL, numerous casino sites have also been established in Scandinavian countries . Thus, it is clear that Swedes have a deep love of casino gambling and a rich history of practice. Until recently, however, the legislature cared little about the legal status of gambling.
Having long been an unregulated market, Sweden took a step towards regulating gambling by passing the Swedish Gambling Act. The Act came into force on 1 January 2019 and, according to the provisions set out therein, gambling operators without a Swedish licence are illegal in the territory.
A brief history of gambling laws
A brief glimpse into the past reveals that there were only three relevant gambling laws in force:
The Lotteries Act 1994.
The Casino Act 1999.
Amendment of 2002.
The main purpose of the "lottery law", as the name suggests, was to supervise lottery games in the state, banning foreign lotteries. However, its scope was also partially extended to slot machines, card games, dice games, roulette, horse racing, etc.
"The Casino Act was a step towards further regulation of casino games. It stabilised restrictions and limits for both operators and players. However, it focused exclusively on land-based gambling.
Then, in 2002, the "lottery law" was amended to accommodate online gambling, which at the time was experiencing an upward trend with the development of internet technology. The amendment eventually gave Svenska Spel (a state-controlled body) a complete monopoly on Internet gambling operations in the territory.
The monopoly nature of land-based gambling in the country has existed since time immemorial. All four gambling establishments and casino ships available to players were owned by the state, and this state monopoly extended to Internet gambling until the Swedish Gambling Act was finally passed.
Provisions of the Gambling Act
The Act is accompanied by numerous bylaws governing specific products such as state lotteries, slot machines, commercial betting, etc. Some of the important points covered by the Act include:
The legal age for gambling (18 for online gambling and 21 for land-based casinos)
The cost of acquiring a licence (between SEK 300,000 and SEK 700,000)
Taxation for commercial gambling operators (18%)
Six different types of licenses are available
Three of the six license types are open to private and international organisations that meet the criteria, which was one of the main motives behind the law. The EU has since disapproved of the Swedish government's gambling monopoly because it violates international trade agreements negotiated by the organisation. The Gambling Act is a step in line with these fundamental principles. We have also noticed that many people have started to play crypto-casinos. It is now both convenient and profitable and they are using the portal https://cryptocasinos360.com/usdt-casino-sites/ to do so.
Another important purpose of the Act is to make the gambling industry in Sweden safer for players by eliminating cheaters from the market. It also enhances player protection by obliging licensed online casinos to take proper security measures, verify the liability of their games and more.
Too many restrictions
As a prohibition law, any provision not specified in the Act is strictly prohibited. And this structure allows the legislature to further restrict gambling products if necessary.
With so many restrictions, the number of operators who actually pass the Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) inspection is very low.
Current state of affairs
As more proposals are made to include additional restrictions in the Act, the situation is not entirely stable. According to a news report from the European Gambling and Betting Association (EBGA), these constant regulatory changes threaten the success of the Swedish online gambling market.
It may seem that the law does more harm than good, and casino operators with legal licenses in other jurisdictions who want to enter the Swedish market are meeting strong resistance. However, only time will tell.
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