Swedish Gambling Authority audit results to be published in September 2024
National Audit Office assesses the regulator to determine its effectiveness following 2019’s re-regulation of the market
The National Audit Office has confirmed it will publish its review into the effectiveness of the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) as a regulator of the country’s market in September 2024.
The audit comes on the back of the re-regulation of Sweden’s gambling market in 2019 and the introduction of B2B licensing of operators in November 2022, with it being announced in August that a review would take place.
The audit will be carried out in two phases, the first being a preparatory phase where the audit is designed and planned out, while the second phase comprises the main investigation where information will be gathered and analysed to assess the overall effectiveness of the regulator in terms of state budget, implementation of the new policy and the commitment to align to the goals of the state. The aim of the review is to determine whether the SGA’s supervision of the gambling market is effective.
A statement from the National Audit Office read: “Expectations for the Swedish Gambling Authority’s supervision are high in the new, re-regulated system.
“At the same time, the authority’s conditions for carrying out supervision have changed. Before the re-regulation, Svenska Spel, ATG and the four largest national lotteries accounted for over 95% of turnover on the regulated market.
“After the re-regulation, a large number of new actors have been added, and today the gambling inspectorate has supervisory responsibility over approximately 600 licence and permit holders.
“The fact that the legislation is largely new also means that there is a lack of practice,” the statement concluded.
The Swedish government recently proposed increasing the SGA’s resources to combat match-fixing. The proposal needs the backing of both the government and the Sweden Democrats for it to go through.