BOS challenges Sweden's plans for calculating AML fines on operators

Swedish online gambling trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has called on the government to change how it proposes to calculate anti-money laundering fines, as a public consultation on implementing new EU rules closed on 30 October.

A memorandum issued by the Ministry of Finance in July set out how Sweden should adapt its legislation to the EU's Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, which applies directly across all member states from 10 July 2027. BOS and other affected bodies were invited to respond.

BOS said it broadly supported the reforms but objected to a suggestion that penalties for an operator's conduct in Sweden could be calculated using the turnover of its entire corporate group, rather than its Swedish turnover alone.

The association said using group-wide figures "creates clear risks of double punishment which runs counter to both Swedish and EU law", according to iGaming Business.

BOS also argued that any fine should be based on gross gaming revenue, the amount left after winnings are paid to players, rather than total stakes. It said winnings belong to customers, not operators, and pointed out that for every SEK100 wagered, roughly SEK95 is typically returned to players, leaving the operator with SEK5.

The association compared this to how banks are penalised, on their own turnover rather than the total sums held in customer accounts, and said the SEK5 margin should form the basis for any gambling-related sanction.

BOS secretary general Gustaf Hoffstedt said the EU package "has the potential to become an important tool in the fight against money laundering", but added that "a rethink is needed in some areas – particularly regarding administrative fines – to ensure proportionality, avoid double punishment and promote legal certainty in general."

The gross gaming revenue argument has precedent in Swedish law. The Supreme Administrative Court decided in 2023 that penalty fees imposed under the Gambling Act had to be worked out from gross gaming revenue rather than total stakes, a ruling that came in a dispute over Genesis Global, fined SEK4 million for a faulty connection to the national self-exclusion register, Spelpaus. Regulator Spelinspektionen had previously calculated fines on total stakes.

Not long afterwards, officials looked at increasing the penalties available for breaches of the Money Laundering Act so that they would match those set out in the Gambling Act. BOS supported the move at the time but said AML fines should also be based on gross gaming revenue.

The issue remains active. In July, the Administrative Court in Linköping upheld anti-money laundering fines issued by Spelinspektionen against three operators, with Betsson Nordic facing a SEK6.5 million penalty, Snabbare SEK5.5 million and Spooniker SEK10 million.

The EU's wider AML overhaul, which includes a new Anti-Money Laundering Authority, was first proposed by the European Commission in 2021 before being adopted in 2024. The following year, the European Gaming and Betting Association said its own AML guidelines would be revised to align with the new framework.