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Read Full BioThe Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) has issued formal warnings and fines worth SEK 19 million ($1.98 million) to three operators, Betsson Nordic, TSG Interactive, and Snabbare, for anti-money laundering (AML) failures.
TSG, Betsson, and Snabbare Failed to Monitor User Deposits Adequately
TSG, a Flutter subsidiary, received the highest penalty of SEK 7 million ($730,117). Key findings of the regulator’s investigation include that the operator failed to apply enhanced due diligence measures properly for customers with unusually high deposits.
Spelinspektionen discovered that TSG had set internal threshold alerts of $20,000 for a single deposit and $40,000 in net deposits within a year to trigger an investigation into the source of the funds.
The regulator found the limits to be too high, allowing potentially risky activity to go undetected. It also criticized TSG’s documentation collection process.
Betsson received a fine of SEK 6.5 million ($677,966) for failing to implement proper due diligence measures and inadequate transaction monitoring. A Spelinspektionen investigation into 10 high-depositing customer accounts discovered that only two were compliant with regulations.
One customer was found to have made 163 deposits over a period of several months, totaling SEK 491,950. That customer had a net annual income of SEK 310,000. Still, the user was deemed to have a low to medium risk by Betsson’s system.
The regulator also fined Snabbare SEK 5.5 million ($573,663). Its investigation found that the operator accepted deposits that exceeded customers’ income.
Spelinspektionen determined that Snabbare’s customer knowledge is insufficient and that the operator’s delayed actions increased the risk of money laundering exploitation.
Spelinspektionen’s Continued AML Enforcement
The latest crackdown on Betsson, Snabbare, and TSG, highlight Spelinspektionen’s strict approach to monitoring AML protocols, including customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and source-of-funds verification.
Just a month prior, the regulator fined Spooniker, a subsidiary of the Kindred Group, SEK 10 million ($1.1 million) for a failure in AML compliance. That included inadequate due diligence measures.
Similar AML shortcomings led to a SEK 12 million ($1.3 million) fine for Videoslots in April. Identical to the TSG case, an investigation of 12 user accounts found numerous breaches of the Swedish Gambling Act.
The April fine came less than six months after Spelinspektionen fined Videoslots SEK 4 million ($417,014) for similar AML failures. The fine was originally SEK 9 million, but the courts reduced it to SEK 4 million.
Other notable penalties for AML breaches include:
- Svenska Spel: SEK 100 million ($10.4 million) in 2024 (Svenska Spel won an appeal recently)
- TSG: SEK 7 million ($729,774) in 2023
- Betsson: SEK 5 million ($521,267) in 2022
Betsson Pulls Out of Holland Gaming Technology Acquisition
Other significant news for the Swedish-based Betsson Group is its announcement of the termination of the agreement to acquire Holland Gaming Technology and Holland Power Gaming in the Netherlands.
Betsson announced the deal in February 2024, pending approval by the Dutch Gambling Authority. The company stated that, since the regulator has not issued a decision by the agreed-upon long-stop date, it has decided to halt the acquisition process. Instead, Betsson will focus on other opportunities.
The agreed-upon purchase price was €27.5 million ($31.4 million). With the termination of the agreement, the sellers will return the sum to Betsson, minus a break fee of €800,000 ($911,900).
