The Spelinspektionen (Swedish Gaming Inspectorate) issued cease and desist orders to 10 gaming operators to withdraw 45 brands targeting Swedish consumers without a license.
Of the ten offenders, six are businesses headquartered in Curaçao, alongside two apiece from Cyprus and Malta.
The regulator identified a series of offenses ranging from offering products in Swedish language and payments in Kronor, as well as marketing to local customers, both directly and via affiliates.
Since December 2019, Spelinspektionen has ordered 21 operators in total to stop targeting players in the market, the highest-profile of these being 1xBet.
According to the regulator’s strategy for tackling unlicensed activity, published in December last year, the order to leave the market is the first step in the enforcement process. Those that fail to comply will then be hit with fines, and should this fail to deter the operator, it will turn to the police.
Spelinspektionen can also apply for court injunctions to block payment providers from processing transactions for these sites.
The latest blocking orders have been issued as licensed operators are warning that new restrictions approved on June 11 by the Swedish government will significantly benefit unlicensed operators.
A SEK5,000 weekly deposit cap, and SEK100 bonus cap, is to be imposed on an online casino from July 2 until the end of the year, with the aim of protecting players restricted to their homes as a result of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
However, licensees claim this will simply encourage players to gamble with unlicensed providers, where the limits are not applied, at a time when channelization rates for the legal market are in decline.
