Norway’s monopoly regime is once again under fire from the state regulator, raising more questions about the future of the market.

Lottstift, the Norwegian gambling authority, is considering the issue of a penalty for Norsk Rikstoto – the country’s exclusive horse betting provider – in relation to a number of AML deficiencies.

An audit by Lottstift for the period between 6 February and 27 May 2025 has revealed a list of violations of Norway’s Money Laundering Act, which threatens Norsk Rikstoto with a fine of up to NOK 2mn (£150k) and an additional NOK 50k per day until “the deviation is corrected”.

What are the failures?

According to the investigation, the AML compliance team of Norsk Rikstoto consists of an insufficient number of people and relies on manual work procedures, which leaves “great” room for improvement in terms of automation and reducing the risks of errors due to overburdening workloads.

Another identified shortfall is Norsk Rikstoto’s customer risk assessments. Lottstift reported that the operator should make improvements as to how it classifies customers based on their risk profile, with the current distinction between monitoring and follow-up procedures not quite clear yet.

On the topic of risk management, the regulator also advised Norsk Rikstoto to conduct a review of its internal policies and ensure that the risk management process is harmonised across all departments.

Compliance documentation was another identified deficiency, with Lottstift stating: “Both the review of sample checks and what we observed during on-site inspections have shown that there is a lack of a systematic approach to documentation and logging of implemented measures, assessments and choices. We saw that some customers/cases have better descriptions of the course of the case than others.”

Finally, Lottstift focused on how effective Norsk Rikstoto is when reporting the implementation of audit recommendations, also identifying room for improvement there.

Atle Hamar, Director of Lottstift, commented: “They have deliberately set aside absolute legal requirements that should enable them to uncover and prevent money laundering. 

“When they do not have good enough systems, the risk of them being exploited for money laundering increases.

“Money laundering is a serious social problem. We expect that a monopoly operator with over 170,000 players follows the law and has better control over how they will uncover and prevent money laundering.”

Lottstift lawyers say a fine is justified

Lottstift additionally released an official notice, where Tatyana Søreide Klepaker, Senior Legal Advisor for the regulator, reflected on whether a fine should be imposed.

According to Klepaker, the offences are pervasive and serious enough to suggest that a fine should be imposed. 

“After a comprehensive assessment of the case….we find that a violation fine should be imposed,” she wrote. “Our assessment is that Norsk Rikstoto has good financial capacity, and that imposing the violation fee will not be disproportionately burdensome for Norsk Rikstoto’s finances.”

Norway at a crossroads

Besides Norsk Rikstoto, the regulator has also been closely monitoring Norsk Tipping – Norway’s state-owned provider of lottery, sports betting and instant games.

It has also found itself embroiled in controversy more than once over the last year, having been found violating multiple compliance standards – from AML breaches to marketing regulations.

With scrutiny over the two operators constantly piling up, the future of Norway’s monopoly market remains at a crossroads given that it will become the only monopoly regime in the Nordics after Finland transitions to a licenced market in 2027.