Compliance Updates
Navigating Legal Frontiers: Nordic Legal’s Vision for the Finnish Gambling Market

The Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 brought together top experts across the iGaming and tech landscape, and Nordic Legal stood out as the event’s Scandinavian Legal Expertise Sponsor. A renowned legal advisory firm in the Nordic region, Nordic Legal continues to shape the future of gambling legislation and compliance in Europe.
In this post-event interview, we caught up with Pekka Ilmivalta, Head of the Finnish Office at Nordic Legal, to dive deeper into the firm’s insights on the upcoming Finnish gambling reform, the legal challenges it poses, and the opportunities it presents for operators preparing to enter the market.
Finland is preparing to launch its regulated gambling sector in January 2026. As an expert with over 20 years of experience in the gambling industry, how do you view its draft legislation and the current state of the Finnish gambling market?
Finns are used to gambling online, and the size of the market is close to 2 billion euros in GGR. As the market share of the national monopoly operator, Veikkaus, has declined to around 50 percent, nearly half of the gambling spending already takes place outside the Finnish regulation. Therefore, the gambling legislation reform is really needed.
The Government Proposal now being dealt with in the Finnish Parliament is generally a comprehensive and a good package. As the political parties are quite unanimous about the need for the reform, I expect the parliamentary discussion to concentrate on the balance between responsibility measures and the features making the market interesting enough for the operators to enter the regulated market. Especially marketing, use of affiliates and bonusing will, and should, be discussed.
I believe that the Parliament will approve the new legislation early next autumn and that the B2C license application process will be able to begin already in January next year.
The Finnish legislative review council has raised concerns about potential increases in gambling harms under the new regulatory framework. What measures do you believe are necessary to mitigate these risks, and how could Finland balance market liberalization with responsible gambling practices?
Personally, I think that gambling harms must be taken seriously. However, as almost half of the Finnish gambling now happens outside the regulated market, I am convinced that succeeding in channelization is a crucial starting point to really mitigate gambling harms. Therefore, attractiveness of the market and measures against the black market are extremely important. Furthermore, self-exclusion and responsible gambling tools are, of course, needed for the players. Generally, I believe that AI assisted monitoring could and will have an important role in preventing harmful gambling in the future. To really work, responsible gambling tools need to be both pragmatic and relevant for each individual player.
Considering Finland’s upcoming gambling reform, what legal and operational challenges should gambling operators be prepared for, particularly regarding compliance and player protection? Which key trends do you see shaping the market’s future?
As it seems now that affiliates and welcome bonuses will be banned, operators will have to find other means to build their brand and acquire customers. Even though traditional marketing and sponsoring are widely acceptable, I would expect to see innovative solutions to stand out from the probable marketing avalanche during the first months after the market opening. Perhaps new kinds of sponsorships or retail activities? Or even enhanced player protection measures to gain a competitive edge?
Overall, I would advise operators to start their market entry preparations early enough. The licensing procedure could take several (6 to 9) months. Also, adjusting to the local technical and player protection requirements might not happen overnight.
What insights could help Finland create a balanced and effective gambling market?
I believe that the new legislation will provide a good enough framework for a functional gambling market. However, based on experiences from Sweden and Denmark, I would point out two practical aspects crucial to making the new legislation effective: First, there needs to be collaboration between licensed operators and the new regulator. Dialogue and a mutual will to find solutions should be the common mindset. Secondly, the regulator hopefully has enough resources (tools, persons and persistence) to interfere with the black-market operations, which will evidently still exist also after the reform.
Nordic Legal has extensive experience advising European governments on regulatory best practices. How can your firm assist operators looking to enter the Finnish market and navigate the evolving legal landscape?
With our deep knowledge of Finnish legislation, extensive experience from regulatory developments in other jurisdictions, and strong industry relationships, we are well-positioned to support operators and B2B suppliers entering the Finnish market. We can offer comprehensive guidance not only on compliance and licensing, but also on navigating strategic challenges, ensuring our clients are well-prepared for a dynamic and shifting legal landscape. Our proactive approach enables us to identify regulatory changes early and help clients stay ahead of industry developments.
The post Navigating Legal Frontiers: Nordic Legal’s Vision for the Finnish Gambling Market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
GRA Renews Singapore Pools Licence for Five-year Term

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The Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) has renewed the licence of Singapore Pools (Private) Limited (Singapore Pools) to conduct betting operations, gaming and lotteries under Section 54 of the Gambling Control Act 2022 (GCA). The tenure for the licence will be five years with effect from 25 October 2025, following GRA’s assessment that Singapore Pools has fulfilled the requirements under Section 54 the GCA.
The post GRA Renews Singapore Pools Licence for Five-year Term appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
Euromat Files Complaint Over Croatia’s Gambling Act Amendment

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An official complaint has been filed by the European Gambling and Amusement Federation (Euromat) with the European Commission regarding Croatia’s amendments of its Gambling Act.
Under Directive (EU) 2015/1535, member countries are obliged to notify any changes to its Gambling Act through the Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS). According to Euromat, the Croatian government failed to do this when introducing “far-reaching” technical rules affecting access and provision of services on the Croatian gambling market.
Failure to notify constitutes a breach of EU law.
These changes include mandatory player identification systems, strict limitations on the location and layout of gambling venues, a comprehensive ban on online and social-media advertising, temporal restrictions on operation and a central player self-exclusion register.
“This complaint marks an important first step in the EU’s legal process. Complaints such as that filed by Euromat are a key tool to alert the Commission to potential breaches of EU law. Based on Euromat’s complaint, the European Commission will be able to assess the evidence and decide on the next steps, including whether to open infringement proceedings against Croatia,” said Euromat president Jason Frost.
“The notification procedure exists to ensure that national measures are compatible with the principles of the single market. Croatia’s decision to ignore this obligation not only breaches EU law; it also threatens legal certainty for businesses across Europe. The Commission must act decisively to uphold the integrity of the internal market.”
The post Euromat Files Complaint Over Croatia’s Gambling Act Amendment appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
KSA to Introduce New Licences for Skill-based Gaming Machines

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The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has announced the plans to offer the option of applying for a limited operating license that only permits the operation of skill-based machines. This will make it easier for operators who only operate skill-based machines to apply for a license.
Request from the market
With this limited operating license, the KSA is meeting a need in the gaming machine market. Operators with only skill-based machines have indicated they would like a separate license, separate from the offering of gaming machines. This limited operating license can have a shorter substantive review process and therefore be issued more quickly.
Various slot machines
At the moment, there is only one type of operating license for gaming machines, which applies to gaming machines in halls and catering establishments and skill machines.
A skill machine is a slot machine:
Which does not award prizes except for extra or longer games; and
Where the course of the game depends entirely or almost entirely on the skill of the player.
A classic example of a skill machine is a pinball machine, where players can win extra balls. Any slot machine that isn’t a skill machine is automatically a chance machine.
More information about the permit application
The Royal Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) will soon provide more information about the application procedure for the limited operating license for skill machines.
The post KSA to Introduce New Licences for Skill-based Gaming Machines appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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