The latest company to have been handed down a fine is Casino Cosmopol which admitted fault and agreed to pay SEK2 million, or $200,000, to the regulator. This penalty is awarded in relation to anti-money laundering (AML) breaches outlined in the watchdog’s conclusion of the case and the two-year investigation.
Cited Breaches Are a Matter of the Past
Spelinspektionen says that certain elements of Casino Cosmopol’s AML processes were insufficient, and the operator had “failed” customer knowledge. The regulator specifically looked into AML practices, citing previous concerns about compliance with the Money Laundering Act.
Casino Cosmopol, although acquiescing to the latest enforcement action, said that the issues described by the regulator were now an issue of the past and not something that Casino Cosmopol had overlooked to rectify.
The regulator has reflected on the positive changes that the operator had enacted as a result of the intervention and said that it expects Casino Cosmopol to indeed comply with all regulatory criteria moving forward.
Among those are improved money laundering training for staff which should help ensure that team members are fully prepared to meet the highest regulatory standards in the country. Apart from training, the operator uses different tools that help detect and flag suspicious transactions, enabling the company to respond in a timely and firm manner.
Gambling Regulator Is Tough on Financial Crime
Spelinspektionen has been calling for stricter measures when it comes to financial crime in the gambling industry and recently applauded a proposal pitched by the government and designed to, among other things, address AML deficiencies. Interestingly, though, the regulator does not believe that a credit card ban is needed in the country right now.
The proposal, however, also wants to increase the tax collected from gambling businesses to 22% from the current 18%, which has ruffled industry feathers and issued a response from BOS, a trade group that protects the industry’s interests and liaises with the government on various matters, including player protection and regulatory course-correction.
The Swedish Gambling Authority has not spared any effort in going after companies that it thinks are also coloring around regulatory lines. Recently, the watchdog named Videoslots as one of the operators to have breached the country’s CFT and AML mandates and rules.
The amount of the penalty was considerably larger at the time, with the company handed down a $810,000 fine.