Swedish gambling regulator the Spelinspektionen has revoked the SafeEnt licenses for commercial online games and betting after discovering “serious deficiencies” in the company’s operations.
The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Gaming, was licensed to provide games via the ninjacasino.com and spellandet.com websites, with the decision applying immediately following concerns over responsible gaming initiatives and measures against money laundering.
The regulator states that following a review SafeEnt was found to have “violated several of the most central parts of the game law,” which are aimed at protecting players against excessive gambling.
One example provided highlighted that customers had been able to spend large amounts of money, without the company reacting to what the duty of care requires, in addition to individuals being able to play well beyond their own deposit limits.
Furthermore, it was revealed that the company’s actions against money laundering and terrorist financing also shows serious and systematic shortcomings, more specifically deficiencies were found in the company’s risk assessment and measures for customer knowledge.
Finally, the review also found that SafeEnt had offered bonuses on more than one occasion, and that certain offers related to lotteries that are not covered by the company’s license.
Explained its decision in a media release, the Spelinspektionen wrote: “SafeEnt has described what measures it intends to take to correct the deficiencies, but the Spelinspektionen believes that the measures are not sufficient and notes that SafeEnt lacks understanding of important parts of the regulations that govern the operations.
“The Spelinspektionen revokes the SafeEnt licenses with immediate effect, since the company’s existing and prospective customers may be adversely affected if the business is allowed to continue.”
Several warnings and penalty fees against licence holders have been issued since the country introduced new gaming legislation at the start of the year, with this being the first case that has been deemed serious enough to see a licence be revoked.
