Online Gaming in Sweden explained
Online Gaming in Sweden was deregulated through a new law called the Gambling Act (‘Act’) which was issued in June 2018. The Gambling Act was immediately followed by a Gambling Ordinance (‘Ordinance’) which provided greater clarity to the provisions of the Act. The new legislation for the first time sought to regulate online gambling in Sweden and opened the possibility for licensing to operate in the market. The Act and the Ordinance include a special section on Commercial Online Gambling and Betting.
The new legislation brought much-needed clarity to the Swedish Online Gaming sector and clarity on the exact requirements which need to be met to obtain a license. The licenses were first issued on the 1st of January 2019 and a number of new players have obtained the required licenses to operate in the industry. The games which can be offered under the Swedish Online Gaming License are specified in the Swedish Gambling Authority’s regulations and general advice on commercial online gambling and betting which specify that roulette, baccarat, punto banco, blackjack, poker and dice games can be offered under a commercial online gambling license, while most forms of betting are allowed except betting on animals pitted against each other and certain other types such as spread betting as specified in Chapter 8 of the Act.
How to get a Swedish Online Gaming License?
An application for a Swedish Online Gaming License has to be made to the Swedish Gambling Authority also called Spellinspektionen. The application can be made by a natural person or a Company. However, in case the person is not a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA), then a person who is a resident of Sweden has to be elected as a representative under Chapter 4 of the Act. The licenses can be issued for a maximum period of 5 years.
What are the Swedish Online Gaming License Application Requirements?
On January 1, 2019, the Swedish Gambling Authority was given the task of ensuring legality, safety, and reliability of the Swedish gaming and gambling market. Hence, since January 1, 2019 licenses are required to run online gambling and betting operations on the Swedish market. The requirements for application for a Swedish Online Gaming License have been specified under Appendix 3 of The Swedish Gambling Authority’s regulations on license applications.
It is a requirement from the Gambling Authority that the application should be in Swedish.
Information requirements for a Swedish gambling license
- Information about the applicant — name, address, contact person, contact details
- Management and board of directors
- Swedish representative
- Gambling type and platform
- License period
- Foreign gambling licenses
- Not approved foreign gambling licenses
- Withdrawn foreign licenses
- Has the applicant any unpaid due debts to public authorities in Sweden or other countries?
- Has the applicant been charged with fines regarding its business?
- Has the applicant been found liable in a civil dispute?
- Does the applicant fulfill the creditor’s financial conditions for crediting?
- Did the applicant apply for reconstruction or bankruptcy?
- Ownership structure
- Is the applicant owned by other corporate bodies/persons?
- Protection of gamblers’ money
- The applicant’s work with compliance
- List partners who may perform an operative function in the applicant’s business under the license
- Information about possible international partners
- Other information
All the information about the above is followed by the requirement to annex a several documents to the application to verify the information given
Companies who apply for a license need to provide a certificate of incorporation, articles of association and a power of attorney for a representative. A Gambling tax of 18% has to be paid on the proceeds which are the difference between stakes and payouts by the operators, but no tax has to be paid on the winnings by the players of licensed operators. A Corporate tax of 22 % is currently payable in Sweden but will decrease gradually to 20.6 % between 2019–2021.
Swedish Online Gaming License Costs
The price that the gambling authority charge for an online gambling license is 400 000 SEK. The price for a betting license is 400 000 SEK. If you apply for both at the same time, you are given a discount and the price is instead 700 000 SEK.
Renewal of any of the licenses mentioned above requires a payment of 300,000 SEK.
