Operator bet365 has failed in its legal appeal against warnings and financial penalties levied by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling regulator. The Court of Appeal sided with the regulatory authority regarding serious violations of deposit limit and duty of care requirements, affirming penalties of SEK 40m for Hillside (Sports) ENC and SEK 4m for Hillside (Gaming) ENC.
Examining regulatory findings and court dismissal
The legal proceedings stem from an investigation published in April 2023 by Spelinspektionen, which examined bet365 customer interactions between October 17 and December 17, 2021. Regulators discovered that the operator permitted users to gamble without specifying mandatory deposit limits.
Although bet365 contended that statutory language permitted customers to select a “no limit” option, Spelinspektionen strongly rejected this interpretation as indifferent to clear customer protection obligations.
Furthermore, the investigation highlighted systemic failures in duty of care. Monitored accounts involving frequent self exclusions and high deposit thresholds showed no evidence of timely operator intervention between February 2019 and December 2021. While the series of violations was deemed severe enough to warrant consideration of licence revocation, the regulator ultimately elected to issue dual warnings and penalty fees.
The court’s dismissal of the appeal confirms the legitimacy of these sanctions, though the operator has since modified its compliance frameworks.
