The Swedish government will end its temporary restrictions on online casinos from 14 November. According to Swedish media reports, the government will no longer enforce its policy that had been applied since 1 July 2020 as a protective measure for Swedish citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Licensed operators had been forced to impose a mandatory SEK 5,000 (€480) weekly deposit limit on player accounts whilst restricting customer bonus incentives to SEK100 (€10).  

Frustrating incumbents, the protection measures that were meant to be reviewed on a quarterly basis, had been extended several times by Ardalan Shekarabi, Sweden’s Social Securities Minister.

The government was criticised for continuing to impose online casino restrictions as Sweden lifted the majority of its COVID-19 public restrictions on 29 September.

Trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) had been critical of the COVID-19 measures, citing that temporary deposit caps had drastically set back the government’s regulated market channelisation rate below its desired 90%.

Irrespective of temporary restrictions being ended, Swedish operators are preparing for transformative market changes as the government reviews the proposals of the ‘Gambling Market Inquiry’ (‘Spelmarknadsutredningen’).

Submitted to the Riksdag, the market inquiry proposes that Sweden impose moderation controls on gambling advertising and introduce a licensing regime for software and games developers.

Further market developments have seen the country’s gambling inspectorate Spelinspektionen secure extended powers granted by Sweden Consumer Agency, Finansinspektionen (FCA), and the Swedish Tax Agency to prosecute AML and unlicensed activities.