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BOS Claims Swedish Banking Institutions Have Suspended Services Provided to Licensed Gambling Operators

Published

3 years ago

April 26, 2021

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Gustaf Hoffstedt, secretary-general of the Swedish trade association Branscheforenigen för Onlinespel (BOS), has claimed that all of the country’s major banking institutions have suspended services they provide to licensed gambling operators.

BOS said that “all major Nordic banks” – including SEB, Swedbank, Nordea, Handelsbanken, DNB Nor and Danske Bank – stopped providing services to Swedish-licensed gambling operators at some point this year.

Claiming this is in violation of Swedish law, Hoffstedt has filed a complaint to the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen).

Most of these banks, Hoffstedt said, cited internal risk assessments or Sweden’s Anti-Money Laundering Act (PTL) as the reasons for account closures. The BOS secretary-general added that “in some cases the banks have not stated any reason at all”.

“As far as I am aware, no concrete justification for the dismissals and banks’ assessment has been provided in any case,” Hoffstedt said.

Hoffstedt added that gambling operators cannot function without banking services.

“Online gambling companies are, as stated above, dependent on basic financial infrastructure in the form of banking and payment services to conduct their business,” he explained. “This requires [them] to be able to store customers’ funds as well as receive deposits and make payments to customers.”

He added that the suspension of services meant that operators could no longer use Bank-ID, used to verify players’ identities. This meant they had lost access to a tool that was vital for fighting fraud and money laundering, Hoffstedt.

“Without access to the Bank-ID system, online gambling companies need to use alternative solutions to identify their customers. These solutions risk being neither as effective for companies nor as safe for users,” he explained.

Swedish Banks also provide the Swish payment service, which Hoffstedt said was also “very important” for operators.

Hoffstedt said that the banks’ decisions had worsened operating conditions for the country’s igaming licensees, as well as counteracting the goals of the Gambling Act.

He went as far as arguing that the actions were illegal.

Hoffstedt said banks have a contractual obligation to continue to provide banking services to these customers, unless there is a clear reason to break this agreement. Only in incidents where continuing to provide banking services would violate the PTL, or if the banking customer had committed misconduct, could agreements be broken, he claimed.

While Hoffstedt noted that banks may terminate agreements if they suspect a customer has connections to money laundering, he pointed out the PTL made clear that these assessments are at the customer level. They can, therefore, not be applied on a sweeping basis to a legal industry.

“Given that a large proportion of BOS members also received notice or notice of termination from the banks – all with general and overarching references to the risk of money laundering in the business – it seems obvious that the basis for the dismissals is a general business policy decision rather than a valid application of PTL,” he said.

“Under these circumstances, there is no possibility for the banks to deviate from their contractual obligation.”

BOS requested a dialogue with the Financial Supervisory Authority and said the regulator “should initiate a supervisory investigation of the banks’ handling and possibly intervene against the banks”.

SEB – one of the banks mentioned by BOS – however, argued it was not systematically ending relationships with gambling operators but rather examined the risk for every client on an individual basis.

“We always make an individual assessment of individual client relationships,“ SEB said. “When it comes to gambling companies, we generally have a cautious approach based on the raised risk level, not least connected to risks relating to money laundering and financial crime.”

Danske Bank, meanwhile, denied it had a policy specifically preventing gambling businesses from operating, but did say these businesses undergo a stricter screening process.

“Danske Bank does not exclude banking services for gambling operations as such,” Danske Bank said. “However, our assessment is that the gambling industry in general is associated with high risk and due to that we have tailored screening principles to ensure that the companies operate responsibly.

“In a case where a specific gambling client does not meet the requirements of our KYC-process or ESG-assessment, the ultimate consequence could be that we limit our offerings or refrain from enter into a business relationship.”

Baltics

Evoplay bolsters presence in Lithuania with Betsafe deal

Published

8 mins ago

April 26, 2024

George Miller

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Reading Time: < 1 minute

Evoplay, the award-winning game development studio, is expanding in the Baltics thanks to its latest tie-up with Betsafe in Lithuania.

The deal sees over 90 of the supplier’s leading titles live on the Betsson Group’s Lithuanian brand Betsafe, a leading operator in the market.

Included in the agreement are Evoplay’s top-performing titles such as Elven Princesses, Hot Triple Sevens and The Greatest Catch Bonus Buy which are now available for Betsafe players.

The latest integration follows a string of similar deals for Evoplay who has continued its expansion across regulated markets in Europe and beyond.

Ihor Zarechnyi, CBDO at Evoplay, said: “Integrating our products to Betsafe, a leading brand in Lithuania, is another important step in our commercial trajectory as our titles continue to grow in popularity and develop a stellar reputation among gaming enthusiasts worldwide.

“Lithuania is a vibrant and dynamic market, and we are thrilled to bring our award-winning content to even more players in the region.”

Aurimas Šilys, Head of Lithuania at Betsson Group, said: “Boosting our offering with a diverse array of titles is of utmost importance for Betsafe as we strive to deliver an unmatched gaming experience to players in Lithuania.

“We are delighted to integrate Evoplay’s dynamic portfolio into our offerings, and we anticipate it will resonate exceptionally well with our audience.”

The post Evoplay bolsters presence in Lithuania with Betsafe deal appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Compliance Updates

EGBA Welcomes European Parliament’s Approval Of New EU Anti-Money Laundering Framework

Published

8 mins ago

April 26, 2024

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

The EU’s new anti-money laundering package aims to create a more consistent regulatory framework and will benefit online gambling operators by standardising AML rules and reporting requirements across member states.

Brussels, 24 April 2024 – The European Parliament has approved the EU’s new anti-money laundering (AML) package at its plenary sitting today, marking a significant milestone towards a new EU framework for combatting financial crime. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), representing Europe’s leading online gambling operators, welcomes the Parliament’s approval of the new AML package and believes the incoming rule changes will strengthen the EU’s approach to tackling money laundering.

The new package will contain:

A single rulebook regulation – with provisions on conducting due diligence on customers, transparency of beneficial owners and the use of crypto-assets.
The 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directive – containing national provisions on supervision and national AML authorities, as well as on the access of authorities to necessary and reliable information, e.g. beneficial ownership registers.
The establishment of the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) – which have supervisory and investigative powers to ensure compliance with AML requirements, operating in conjunction with national AML authorities.

EGBA believes the new rules will benefit Europe’s online gambling operators by ensuring a consistent regulatory approach across EU member states. Another important feature, under the competence of AMLA, will be the creation of a harmonised reporting format for Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs). This will ensure that Europe’s online gambling operators encounter the same STR requirements across all EU member states, thereby setting clear and consistent expectations that will reduce administrative burdens and costs.

To assist online gambling operators in complying with the EU’s new AML rules, EGBA has developed industry-specific guidelines on anti-money laundering which apply a risk-based approach and include practical measures that operators can take – on customer and business risk assessments, customer due diligence processes, suspicious transaction reporting, and record keeping. EGBA members already apply the guidelines and submit annual reports to EGBA that summarise their progress in implementing its measures. The guidelines are also open to all operators based in the EU and EGBA encourages operators to sign up to them.

The AML package now awaits formal adoption by the Council of the EU, expected in May, before being published in the EU’s Official Journal.

“We welcome the European Parliament’s approval of the new anti-money laundering package. The new framework will set high standards and ensure greater consistency in the application of AML rules across the EU. Online gambling operators, especially those operating in multiple countries, will benefit from a single rulebook and harmonised reporting requirements that will unravel national complexities. We will look to review our industry guidelines on AML to ensure their alignment with the new EU rules. By signing up to the guidelines, operators can already prepare themselves for the incoming changes in the EU rules and join our members in their efforts to proactively and positively contribute to the EU’s fight against money laundering.” – Dr. Ekaterina Hartmann, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, EGBA.

Source: EGBA

The post EGBA Welcomes European Parliament’s Approval Of New EU Anti-Money Laundering Framework appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

IAGA

The International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) Announces 2024 International Gaming Summit in Washington, D.C.

Published

8 mins ago

April 26, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

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The International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA) will hold its 41st International Gaming Summit Monday, May 27 through Thursday, May 30, 2024 at The Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C.

As a premier event that brings together leaders from all global gaming sectors, the Summit will provide operators, suppliers, attorneys, investors, bankers, regulators and other advisor delegates with an unparalleled opportunity to meet and discuss the most important issues facing gaming.

“We are looking forward to holding this year’s 41st Annual International Gaming Summit in Washington, D.C., and are pleased to announce an agenda that includes a specific focus on some of the key sports betting issues the rapidly expanding US market is facing. As part of this focus, we will bring together representatives from global sports betting operators, regulatory agencies, professional sports leagues and other experts to discuss how the industry’s sports betting stakeholders can better work together to ensure a sustainable, responsible sports betting environment that is built on best practices lessons learned from other markets,” John Stawyskyj, President of IAGA, said.

“Beyond our sports betting focus, our diverse agenda includes discussions on other issues of importance including the growing impact of fraud and cyber breaches on regulated operators, a look into the federal and state lobbying process, an update on what’s happening in other gaming markets outside North America, a deep dive into new technologies and how they might impact gaming and more. I look forward to welcoming our delegates to Washington and participating with them in lively discussions about these critical issues and more,” Stawyskyj added.