SafeEnt, a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Gaming, has seen a further appeal refused regarding its licence revocation in Sweden, and is now considering taking its case for injunctive relief to the Supreme Administrative Court.
The company, licensed for its flagship Ninja Casino brand and spellandet.com site within the country, has seen the Administrative Court’s Chamber of Appeal in Jönköping confirm that the revoking is be imposed until further notice, while a final decision on the revocation is being tested.
Spelinspektionen, the Swedish regulator, withdrew the licence last month, stating that it had discovered “serious deficiencies” in the company’s operations, and that it had violated key provisions of the gaming law.
One example particular example 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 actions against money laundering and terrorist financing also showed serious and systematic shortcomings, with deficiencies found in the company’s risk assessment and measures for customer knowledge.
SafeEnt swiftly announced its decision to appeal to decision in Administrative Court, requesting that the decision should not apply while a final judgement is still being sought.
Håkan Löfgren, chairman of the court, said of the decision: “The judgement is based on an assessment of the likelihood that the license will be revoked definitively.
“The decision means that the company cannot offer games as long as the process in the administrative court is ongoing. What is happening now is that the parties will complete their action in the Administrative Court. The administrative court then has to decide the case finally, ie. decide if the recall should pass.”
Having now seen two appeals being refused, the next step in the process would be to contest the judgement in the Supreme Administrative Court, a course of action being considered.
Tobias Fagerlund, Global Gaming CEO, commented on the rejection of injunctive relief: “We are of course disappointed by the ruling of the Administrative Court of Appeal and the fact that relief was not conceded. We and our shareholders suffer a great deal of damage for every day operations are suspended.
“It is still our conviction that we will prevail at the end of the process. We are currently considering options for an appeal for injunctive relief in the Supreme Administrative Court.”
