Swedens digital gambling sector embraces the nation’s B2B licensing scheme, but harbors worries that the regulatory body, Spelinspektionen, might be overestimating its influence on directing activity.

The Swedish administration has passed legislation mandating that B2B online gambling providers secure a permit to operate with licensed operators. The government anticipates this measure will curtail illicit gambling within the country, as suppliers offering services to operators targeting the Swedish market could face license revocation.

Spelinspektionen convened an informational gathering regarding these licenses yesterday.

Gustav Hoffstedt, the chief executive of the Swedish Online Gambling Association (BOS), participated in the meeting. He expressed the industry’s backing of the B2B licensing system, but voiced his belief that Spelinspektionen might be overly hopeful about the role these licenses will assume in curbing illegal gambling.

“I perceive a general positive sentiment towards B2B licenses within the industry and at Spelinspektionen,” remarked Hoffstedt.

Its possible there’s a discrepancy between what we anticipate and what actually happens. This means that we in the industry may have underestimated the effectiveness of this new measure in stemming the flow of customers away from the Swedish licensing system.

He pointed out that a significant hurdle could be that the supplier licensing system won’t affect businesses that serve Swedish customers but aren’t considered to be specifically targeting Sweden.

“The range of application remains the same before and after the implementation of the B2B license,” he explained. “In plain terms, this means that unlicensed B2C companies in Sweden can still accept Swedish customers, as long as they aren’t seen as actively targeting the Swedish market.

“That being said, I believe and hope that the B2B license will at least contribute a couple of percentage points to bolstering channelisation, which is the only objective outlined by the lawmakers in the introduction.”

A comprehensive B2B license in Sweden
Hofstede added that a potential problem with the current legislation is that Sweden lacks provisions for what are known as “umbrella licenses.” These licenses would enable larger suppliers with numerous subsidiaries to apply for a single license instead of submitting multiple applications.

Hofstede stated that permitting umbrella licenses would significantly reduce administrative burdens.

“A crucial and unresolved question relates to so-called umbrella licenses,” he said. “The legislature does not permit any such licenses.”

In the meantime, it would be a bureaucratic headache if, for instance, the smallest provider of audio files had to apply for a Swedish business-to-business permit.

“Our message to the Swedish Gambling Authority is to aim for a framework that enables overarching licenses in practice, even if not in a legal sense.”

The Swedish Gambling Authority intends to open applications on March 1, with the requirement for Swedish business-to-business supplier licenses becoming effective on July 1, 2023.

Other aspects of the legislation that require simpler modifications will take effect on January 1.

The initial version of the law included a new requirement for “modified examination,” which would have meant that products considered high-risk, such as online casinos, would face more stringent marketing regulations than other forms of gambling.

However, the Swedish Parliament’s Cultural Committee eliminated this provision when reviewing the law, arguing that it was an attempt to implement risk categorization of gambling types through a back door.

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