Flutter and Betsson penalized by Swedish regulator for AML failures
Flutter and Betsson have been hit with enforcement action by Spelinspektionen, the Swedish regulator, over AML breaches in the Scandinavian country.
Both entities have been issued with fines of SEK 13.5, ($1.4m) due to the failings of subsidiary brands, as relayed by SBC.
Those responsible were Flutter’s TSG Interactive PLC, Betsson’s Nordic business, and ComeOn Group’s Snabbare Ltd.
TSG is a Malta-licensed operator that belongs to Flutter’s subsidiary The Stars Group.
It has been found guilty of significant failures in its customer due diligence and administration covering funds transfers.
The infringement is said to date back to 2023 and was discovered a year later during a regulatory probe.
Sweden’s regulator was not satisfied with the paper trail compiled by TSG on transactions, coming to the conclusion that it was ot meeting the threshold to determine if the source of customer funds was compliant or if AML risks were prevalent.
New penalty calculations applied in June last year were designed to be more punitive on companies, by making the fee a percentage of turnover or gross gambling revenue (GGR).
However, due to the failings taking place prior to the penalty change, the maximum penalty was capped at SEK 10.5m ($1.09m) for the AML breaches.
Failed to classify customers as ‘high risk’A similar case was opened up against Betsson’s Nordic operation, with suspicions raised over a series of deposits made by a number of customers over several months.
Spelinspektionen found that Betsson Nordics should have classified these customers as ‘high risk’ users, due to their age demographics and the amounts transferred, but the operator failed to do so.
Similar to TSG, Betsson was hit with a fine of SEK 6.5m ($680k) due to the indiscretions taking place before June 2024.
The Stockholm-listed firm confirmed today that it has pulled out of a deal to acquire two Netherlands-based gaming companies.
In addition to Flutter and Betsson, the other entity to be reprimanded was ComeOn Group’s Snabbare Ltd.
Snabbare has been the operator’s dedicated Swedish brand since 2017, working under a dual Swedish and Maltese license.
It was found to have carried out insufficient AML checks all throughout 2023, but the company emerged with a fine of just SEK 5.5m ($570k) following its latest run-in with the regulator.
Four years ago, the firm was issued with a significant SEK 65m ($6.76m) penalty for giving players recurring bonuses when only one-time bonuses are permitted in Sweden.
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