Gambling operator Unibet has told TotallyGaming.com it does not believe that new Swedish gambling proposals will become law.
The operator, which has headquarters in Sweden and is traded on the Nasdaq Stockholm, is reacting to the Lotteriinspektionen regulator’s plans to introduce new measures which will toughen the country’s advertising code with regards to online gambling.
Lotteriinspektionen and the Ministry of Finance have proposed a set of amendments to the nations gambling framework, the ‘Lottery Law’ designed to crack down on unlicensed online gambling operators targeting Swedish consumers.
If passed, the amendments would mean foreign operators could be punished as well as Swedish-based firms, and also that Lotteriinspektionen’s decisions would be immediately effective on a case-by-case basis.
However, speaking to TotallyGaming.com, Unibet’s public affairs manager (Nordics) Peter Alling explained that with Sweden having been told last year by the European Commission that its current legislation is unenforceable, these proposals would be unlikely to be passed without other significant changes to its gambling laws.
“As the responsible minister has stated Sweden shall re-regulate into a license regime it is most likely the proposals will be incorporated in yet another governmental Commission and form part of at larger reform,” Alling said.
“The proposal being enacted on its own is therefore not likely.”
Under the new amendments, any unlicensed company that advertised in the country could be subject to fines and up to six months in prison if management were found to be guilty of “intentionally and unlawfully promote participation in a lottery”.
source : www.totallygaming.com
