The gambling regulator of Sweden, Spelinspektionen, has issued warnings to all licensed gambling operators over bonus offers. This comes after a shake-up in legislation and the regulatory body is urging the operators to stick to the new rules. Sweden’s international gambling market was launched in January this year which saw the country handing out approximately 70 licenses to casino and sports betting operators, but there are more licenses in progress. Spelinspektionen have issued the warning due to complaints that some operators are ignoring the rules and rewarding customers with bonuses and other incentives. Sweden’s gambling law states that a bonus can only be awarded to customers who have registered with one licensee or another, for the very first time! Whilst this may seem a little mean or fruitless, there are however some good points to the new legislation, one being lower wagering requirements. Rules also prohibit gambling companies from ‘spamming’ customers, which means no texts, emails or phone calls.

A statement revealed that operators who offer such bonuses outside of the rules, risk attracting customers with a gambling problem. Further to that, a warning was issued to all licensed operators, which promised that Sweden would be watching all online gambling operators closely to ensure they are obeying the rules set out before them. An investigation is underway to determine whether bonuses were handed out to customer unlawfully and should any company be found guilty of doing so, they face a hefty fine or could even see their license revoked.

Source: https://europeangaming.eu/portal/compliance-updates/2019/02/22/39500/spelinspektionen-issues-warning-to-gambling-companies-over-bonus-offer-rules/