The gambling regulators of Sweden and the UK have committed to a continuation of a long-running cooperation agreement at a time of change for both country’s gambling industries.
Sweden’s Spelinspektionen and the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) first entered into an agreement in November 2019, with a focus on facilitating information exchange between the two countries.
Regulatory changes for gambling are on the horizon for the UK and Swedish industries, with notable changes due to impact the payments aspects of the operator customer journey.
In the case of the UK, the government – specifically the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) – and the UIKGC are currently working to implement the recommendations of the Gambling Act review.
One of the flagship policies of this regulatory overhaul is the adoption of finance risk checks, also known as affordability checks, which seek to verify a customers’ financial stability when gambling larger sums of money.
Meanwhile, in Sweden, the Ministry of Finance is moving to implement a ‘more comprehensive’ set of rules around credit card payments for gambling.
Policymakers are concerned about debt accumulation among Swedish consumers, arguing that this is heavily linked to gambling.
Against this backdrop, Camilla Rosenberg, Director General of the Spelinspektionen, co-signed the extension of the international cooperation agreement with UKGC Deputy CEO Sarah Garnder.
“The gambling market is global and it is important to have good relations in order to cooperate with other gambling authorities,” Rosenberg remarked.
“Although our markets differ, we have many common areas where we can learn from each other and exchange experiences. By working together, we can achieve our common goals of a healthy and safe gambling market.”
In addition to the UKGC, the Spelinspektionen also maintains agreements or Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with three other regulators from prominent European gambling jurisdictions.
These are the Netherlands; which is also examining implementation of finance risk checks; Malta, where this year’s National Risk Assessment has highlighted continuing AMlL risks to the gambling and other financial sectors; and lastly, Gibraltar, which recently secured its removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist.
