Global Gaming 555 AB said that it would appeal Spelinspektionen’s decision to revoke its license in Sweden. The company operates the Ninja Casino brand, among others.
News emerged on Monday that the Swedish gambling regulator has revoked the license of Global Gaming’s subsidiary SafeEnt Ltd. after conducting a thorough review of its operations in Sweden. SafeEnt was licensed by Spelinspektionen to provide services in the local gaming space with the NinjaCasino.com and Spellandet.com online casinos.
The regulator’s review detected multiple shortcomings in relation to how SafeEnt was running its operations in the Swedish gaming market, including “serious deficiencies” in its anti-money laundering, know your customer, and social responsibility policies. The company was also found to have breached Sweden’s rules for bonus offers.
In a statement issued shortly after news about its license revocation surfaced, Global Gaming said that it would appeal the decision immediately.
Spelinspektionen’s decision came with immediate effect, which means that Global Gaming’s brands are no longer available in Sweden. Global Gaming said in its statement that the regulator’s move came rather unexpectedly as the company had previously discussed the shortcomings spotted with Spelinspektionen and been left with the impression “that the actions taken have secured that the operation is running correctly.”
An Unexpected Decision
Tobias Fagerlund, acting CEO of Global Gaming 555 AB, said that Spelinspektionen’s decision was odd as his company and its legal advisers were under impression that all obligations it had as a licensee were complied with.
Sweden adopted its new gambling law on January 1, 2019. It enabled international gambling companies to operate in the newly re-organized space with a license issued by Spelinspektionen. Global Gaming, which is headquartered in Sweden, was one of more than 70 companies that have been licensed by the local regulator since the new law took effect.
In its statement announcing its decision, the gaming authority said that SafeEnt lacked effective anti-money laundering and terrorist financing tools and that the review conducted showed “serious and systematic shortcomings” in the operator’s risk assessment and KYC.
In addition, SafeEnt was found to have failed to provide its services in a socially responsible manner. The company reportedly allowed gamblers to spend huge amounts of money, ones well beyond their deposit limits. Last but not least, SafeEnt’s brands apparently offered multiple bonuses to some of its customers, even though this is strictly prohibited under Sweden’s gambling law.
Global Gaming maintains that its communication with Spelinspektionen left it under the “firm impression” that it has ensured compliance with regulations after receiving initial warnings by the regulator.
The operator’s CEO said Monday that they will “of course appeal the decision” and that they “have good reasons to believe that we will have success in an appeal.” He went on that their:
license now have been revoked lacks legal support and compose an unproportional action which will cause the company significant damage.
Global Gaming’s shares plummeted 45% on Monday on news that it has lost its Swedish license.
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