Norway will likely allow its oil fund to keep investing in the gambling companies it wants out of its online gambling field
The Government of Norway is likely to allow the country’s oil fund to keep its stocks in gambling companies, even though lawmakers have embarked on a mission to do whatever it takes to prevent the same gambling companies from servicing Norwegian gamblers, local newspaper Aftenposten reports.
According to its official website, the Government Pension Fund Global, commonly known as the oil fund, is one of the world’s largest funds. It aims to “ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources.” Over the years, the oil fund has purchased small stakes in more than 9,000 companies. Its investments spread across 73 different markets and 3 main areas – equities, bonds, and the real estate industry.
Aftenposten reports that Norway’s oil fund currently holds stocks in 69 gambling companies. It has invested in major land-based casino operators such as Las Vegas powerhouses MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment Corp., and Wynn Resorts as well as in British bookmakers William Hill and Ladbrokes and online gambling companies 888 Holdings, Betsson, and Paddy Power Betfair. And according to previous media reports, the fund’s total investment in gambling companies amounted to more than $3.3 billion at the beginning of 2018.
New Direction
The fund’s investment in the gambling industry was heavily criticized by Norwegian lawmakers last year. It went so far that the nation’s Labor and Christian Democratic parties proposed a legislation that would have required the oil fund to get rid of its gambling stocks.
However, it seems that the government’s stance on the matter has softened significantly. Tore Storehaug, a member of Norway’s Christian Democratic Party and the government’s finance committee, has told Aftenposten that other issues related to the nation’s oil fund have become a priority.
The oil fund is prohibited from investing in the arms, tobacco, and coal industries as the products of these industries violate the guidelines under which the fund has been run for five decades. It seems that the gambling industry will not join the list of the prohibited areas of investment at least for now. Norwegian lawmakers are set to discuss the future of the oil fund in mid-June.
War on Unregulated Gambling
Under Norway’s gambling law, only the state-run Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are authorized to provide gambling services to local gamblers. However, existing rules have not been enough to deter international companies from servicing Norwegians.
The past few years have seen lawmakers and regulators ramp up their efforts to purge the nation’s betting and gaming fields from unauthorized operations but with little success so far. Most recently, the government rolled out strengthened policies against gambling-related transactions involving unlicensed operators.
Under those new rules, the Norwegian Gaming Authority has the power to order local banks to block transactions with unauthorized online gambling companies.
It also became known earlier this year that the regulator had penned letters to six gambling companies, urging them to stop targeting Norwegian customers or face regulatory action. Kindred Group was one of the operators chastised by the Gaming Authority. Late last year, it filed a lawsuit against the regulator, arguing that its payment blocking policies represented “regulatory overreach” and violated treaties for the free distribution of services. Last month, Lottstift ordered Kindred’s brands to exit Norway, to which the operator responded by saying that there was no legal basis for the regulator’s order.
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