Compliance Updates
Swedish Regulator Issues SEK300,000 Fine to Yggdrasil for Supplying its Online Gaming Software to Unlicensed Operator
Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gaming regulator, has issued a SEK300,000 (€26,200) penalty fee and a warning to Yggdrasil for allegedly supplying gaming software to an unlicensed company operating in Sweden.
Yggdrasil received its software licence on 22 March 2023. This permitted it to create, supply and install gaming software used for online games in Sweden. This licence expires on 20 June 2028.
The regulator said it began its investigation on 16 January 2024, when it began to investigate websites being run by unlicensed operators in Sweden. It is understood that Yggdrasil was a supplier for one of these websites, according to Spelinspektionen’s decision outline.
This contravenes chapter 11, section 6 of Sweden’s Gambling Act. This section outlines that game software licensees must not provide software for anyone that does not hold a licence.
In response to the investigation, Yggdrasil said it had corrected the issue on 23 January 2024. It stated that the contravention had come about due to a breach in contract between itself and a retailer. Yggdrasil stipulated that it no longer “manufactures, supplies, installs or changes gaming software for players without the necessary licence”.
The regulator acknowledged that Yggdrasil complied with its order, but added that this is expected of all licensees.
“Yggdrasil has promptly taken corrective action and removed games and all other types of assets belonging to Yggdrasil from the website in question and ceased the violation since it was notified by the Gaming Authority,” reads the decision.
“The collaboration cannot, however, be considered to have been active in a different way than what one must normally be able to expect from a company that has chosen to operate licensed activities under supervision.
“The mitigating circumstances do not outweigh the seriousness of the offense in such a way that it can be considered minor or excusable. In summary, the Swedish Gaming Authority assesses that the violation is serious.”
Spelinspektionen concluded that a warning would be given rather than revoking Yggdrasil’s licence in Sweden altogether. This is also combined with the penalty fee issued.
The fee must be at a minimum of SEK5000 and set at a maximum of 10% of the company’s turnover in relation to the preceding financial year. As Yggdrasil’s net sales hit €514,566 in 2023 – the equivalent of SEK5.8m – the fee could have been as high as SEK580,000.
The post Swedish Regulator Issues SEK300,000 Fine to Yggdrasil for Supplying its Online Gaming Software to Unlicensed Operator appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Australia
Former Star Entertainment Executives Mathias Bekier and Paula Martin Disqualified and Ordered to Pay Penalties
The Australian Federal Court has disqualified former Star Entertainment Group Limited executives Mathias Bekier and Paula Martin from managing corporations for six and seven years respectively and ordered them to pay pecuniary penalties for breaching their duties by failing to properly manage serious risks at one of Australia’s major casinos.
The Court ordered:
Mr Bekier, the former Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, to pay a pecuniary penalty of $700,000 and disqualified him from managing corporations for six years.
Ms Martin, the former General Counsel, Company Secretary, and Chief Legal and Risk Officer, to pay a pecuniary penalty of $400,000 and disqualified her from managing corporations for seven years.
His Honour also ordered that Mr Bekier and Ms Martin pay 45% of ASIC’s costs of the proceeding.
The Court previously found that both Mr Bekier and Ms Martin breached their duties owed to Star Entertainment in relation to their handling of the risks associated with money laundering and criminal activity.
ASIC Chair Sarah Court said: “senior executives have a critical responsibility to identify, escalate and properly manage serious risks within their organisations.
“These failures occurred in a highly regulated environment and contributed to significant governance breakdowns at Star.
“Penalties of this scale reflect the seriousness of their conduct and send a strong message to other senior executives of listed companies that failures of this type are unacceptable.”
ASIC has an enduring enforcement priority focused on governance and directors’ duties failures.
In relation to Mr Bekier, His Honour Justice Lee said:
“Senior executives of casino operators, and public companies conducting enterprises pregnant with risks more broadly, must understand that failures of the kind established by the contraventions may attract substantial personal consequences.”
Further, in respect of Ms Martin he found that “the community is entitled to expect that a solicitor occupying such positions and having such responsibilities, within one of Australia’s largest casino operators, will display professional independence, accuracy and judgment of a high order. The conduct established … represented a very serious departure from those standards” and that
“Ms Martin knew of a miscellany of alarming information pertaining to [an overseas gambling junket] … She was required to report such matters to the Board but failed to do so. This is all the more concerning when considered against the backdrop of Ms Martin being the most senior solicitor employed by Star”; and that
“The more pervasive the failures of governance and culture become, the greater the obligation upon those entrusted with legal and risk responsibilities to insist upon compliance with legal obligations and proper standards of corporate conduct.”
The post Former Star Entertainment Executives Mathias Bekier and Paula Martin Disqualified and Ordered to Pay Penalties appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Compliance Updates
Kentucky AG Files Lawsuits Against Companies Allegedly Operating Illegal Betting, Gambling Platforms
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced on Wednesday that his office has filed separate lawsuits against three online platforms he claims are operating without licenses and engaging in illegal sports betting and gambling.
The lawsuits were filed in Franklin Circuit Court against:
Kalshi, a prediction market platform, and its affiliates including Coinbase;
Polymarket, a prediction market platform, and its affiliates; and
VGW, an online casino platform with brands including Chumba Casino, Global Poker, and LuckyLand Slots.
The suits against Kalshi and Polymarket allege that they allow users to place wagers on game winners, point spreads and player statistics, and that they are doing business in Kentucky without a gaming license or following state regulations.
The suit against Kalshi states that it offers so-called “event contracts” on several topics; sports betting made up approximately 70% of its trading volume during a selected sample period in 2025.
The Polymarket suit states that the platform’s flashy advertisements on social media and elsewhere give the false and misleading impression that it is authorized to offer sports wagering under Kentucky law. The platform offers many of the same traditional sports bets as a licensed sportsbook.
“Kalshi and Polymarket are operating illegal sportsbooks in Kentucky and breaking our laws. These multi-billion dollar corporations and their legal fictions don’t pass the sniff test. As one of our state legislative leaders said it best, ‘If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck’,” said Coleman on the suits.
The suits also allege that each company offers few or no resources to identify or seek help for a gambling problem.
The suit against VGW and its affiliates states that they allegedly operate unlawful sweepstakes casino websites that use two different types of virtual gambling chips.
The games on websites are designed to look and feel like slot machines and blackjack.
The alleged online casinos offer two types of chips: one free and one with cash value.
According to the suit, users pay real money for so-called Sweeps Coins, just as gamblers pay for poker chips at a real casino, or they can cash out their winnings.
“This company may use new technology and a new scheme to hide, but the reality is the same,” Coleman said on the suit. “Our Office has a duty to stop illegal gambling in Kentucky regardless of how it’s packaged.”
In recent months, Coleman has joined in national bipartisan efforts to regulate prediction markets.
The post Kentucky AG Files Lawsuits Against Companies Allegedly Operating Illegal Betting, Gambling Platforms appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Approval positions the supplier to distribute certified titles to licensed operators under Switzerland’s Federal Gambling Act.
PopOK Gaming has secured game certification for Switzerland’s regulated iGaming market, clearing the supplier to offer its online casino portfolio to licensed Swiss operators.
The company said the approval was granted under the Swiss Federal Gambling Act (Geldspielgesetz), which sets requirements around game fairness, security, and player protection. PopOK Gaming said it passed the necessary evaluations to meet local technical and regulatory standards.
According to PopOK Gaming, Swiss operators will be able to integrate an initial line-up including “high-volatility slots, unique artistic games, and instant games,” alongside mechanics such as animations and gamification features.
PopOK Gaming said the Swiss certification supports its broader European expansion strategy and that it is open to partnership discussions with licensed operators in the market.
The post PopOK Gaming secures Swiss certification to supply online casino games appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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