Latest News
BOS Claims Swedish Banking Institutions Have Suspended Services Provided to Licensed Gambling Operators
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.”
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Compliance Updates
Vixio Delighted To Be Shortlisted For An ICA Compliance Award for Technology Partner of the Year
Vixio, a leading provider of regulatory intelligence solutions, has been shortlisted for an International Compliance Association (ICA) Compliance Award for Technology Partner of the Year. The ICA Compliance Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements, collaboration, and innovation of the compliance and financial crime prevention teams across the globe.
Following a thorough judging process, Vixio was shortlisted ahead of the official awards ceremony which will be held on 26th June 2025.
The Technology Partner of the Year category entry detailed the outstanding work of Vixio, showcasing an innovative solution that helps compliance teams cut through the noise to understand the complex, ever-changing regulatory environment to mitigate risk and uncover growth opportunities.
Mike Woolfrey, CEO, Vixio commented, “Vixio has been offering comprehensive, actionable compliance intelligence for over two decades now and we are delighted to be recognised for our RegTech platform, which combines cutting-edge technology with the deep industry knowledge of our experts. We are honoured to be shortlisted for this award and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the outstanding Vixio team for their hard work and expertise.”
ICA’s President, Pekka Dare added, “It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Vixio on being shortlisted as a finalist in the category of Technology Partner of the Year. On behalf of ICA, I would like to thank everyone who entered the ICA Compliance Awards personally. All of the entrants represent the very best of what our industry has to offer, and I am looking forward to welcoming all our finalists to the awards ceremony on the 26th June.”
The judging panel was made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the compliance and financial crime prevention community. This includes Lisa Bennett, Legal Compliance Director, Mastercard; Caroline Braddock, Civil Ethics and Compliance Officer, Rolls-Royce; Samer Jannoun, Head of Regional Ethics and Compliance Special Oversight, Meta; Dane Pedro, Presiding Justice and Magistrate, Ministry of Justice, UK; Chris Watkins, Head of Compliance & ESG, Renewable Power Capital; Ben Westwood, Head of Compliance & DPO, Motor Insurers Bureau.
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster, London on 26 June 2025.
The post Vixio Delighted To Be Shortlisted For An ICA Compliance Award for Technology Partner of the Year appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The company will continue to provide its integrated solution Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) for Class 4 venues to the Department of Internal Affairs.
INTRALOT S.A. announces that its subsidiary INTRALOT New Zealand Ltd., has signed with the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) of New Zealand a six-year contract extension from 2026 to 2032, with a one-year further extension option, for the provision of Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) solution for Class 4 (non-casino) electronic gaming machines. In parallel, DIA has exercised its right to utilise the one-year extension option in the current EMS Service Agreement with INTRALOT New Zealand for continued supply of the EMS, extending the agreement from 10 May 2025 to 10 May 2026.
EMS was introduced by INTRALOT in March 2007 to track and monitor gaming machine operations in Class 4 venues (such as pubs and clubs), ensuring the integrity of games and accurate financial reporting. Through the new contract extension, INTRALOT will continue the provision of its industry-proven EMS platform for DIA, as well as a series of significant upgrades to the current EMS platform that will enable a new range of advanced services and functionalities for the Class 4 gambling sector.
The new extension builds on long-standing partnership of DIA with INTRALOT and demonstrates our company’s successful collaboration in implementing and operating the EMS platform in New Zealand to the highest industry standards. INTRALOT’s world-class platform and EMS services are fully aligned with IGSA (International Gaming Standards Association) and meet the most comprehensive regulatory requirements. Furthermore, it should be noted that INTRALOT’s advanced services to DIA will continue fully supporting the New Zealand Gambling Regulators responsible gaming requirements.
INTRALOT invests heavily in the development and delivery of state-of-the-art central monitoring systems for regulated markets. This new extension follows INTRALOT’s recent project with Nebraska’s Charitable Gaming Division (USA) to implement a real-time monitoring system set to launch soon, while the company’s system is already operational in Victoria (Australia), Georgia, and Ohio (USA).
The post INTRALOT signs contract extension in New Zealand until 2032 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
CT Interactive has appointed Lilyana Runeva as its new Commercial Manager.
Lilyana brings extensive experience in both B2B and B2C negotiations and has proven her ability to build and maintain strong relationships with both internal teams and external partners. Her long career spans various professional roles, highlighting her versatility and ability to succeed in diverse work environments while tackling complex challenges.
Throughout her career, Lily has developed key skills in effective project management and building lasting relationships with clients and partners. Her commitment to continuous professional development and improvement is a foundation for her contribution to the company’s success. Furthermore, her exceptional administrative and analytical skills have played a crucial role in creating strategies and solutions that support the development of the teams and projects she leads.
“We are confident that Lilyana’s leadership and expertise will be key to CT Interactive’s continued success. In her role as Commercial Manager, she will be responsible for driving the company’s growth in key markets, expanding its portfolio of strategic partnerships, and ensuring the success of CT Interactive’s global operations,” the company said.
The post CT Interactive Appoints Lilyana Runeva as its New Commercial Manager appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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