After a long year of planning and preparing, the new Swedish online gaming industry regulations came into effect on January 1, 2019.
The new piece of legislation is set to bring major changes to this market, and will certainly make a significant impact on online gaming in Sweden.
An Important Move for Sweden
All those operators that will offer their services to customers in Sweden will be required to pay a tax of 18% of their gross gaming revenue. Under the provisions of the new law, the list of authorised casinos includes state-owned casino games, slots, and lottery games, but it doesn't exclude online casinos and online bookmakers from operating within the country's borders, provided they have met the corresponding criteria.
To play at a Swedish online casino, punters will have to be at least 18 years old, while the age limit to play at a brick and mortar facility is set at 21.
The main goal of the new legislation is to make gambling safer and to prevent fraud, money laundering, and match-fixing, while at the same time addressing the issue of problem gambling.
The country's gambling regulator, Lotteriinspektionen, will be tasked with enforcing the new regulations.
Exciting Times for One of Europe's Most Important Markets
Sweden is a huge market, with some of the industry's biggest names originating from this Scandinavian country (NetEnt, Play'n GO, Evolution and more). Brands like Betsson, Casumo, Jackpot City Casino, bwin, PartyCasino, Unibet, and SveaCasino have already been approved for doing business in Sweden and will continue to offer their services to punters in this country.
Experts believe the regulations will help the local market growth, especially since the markets in neighbouring Finland and Norway are monopolised. Opening their doors to operators should prove to be a smart and lucrative move, and the Stockholm Stock Exchange will surely feel the impact of the latest move.
It will be interesting to see what will happen in the coming period, and how will the market adapt to new regulations. We can expect certain problems to occur in the transitional period, but they shouldn't have a significant impact.
