The Swedish gambling regulator has been accused of numerous shortcomings after an inspection by the national auditor. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Regulator found lacking

Sweden’s National Audit Office, the Riksrevisionen, has stated that the country’s gambling regulator, the Spelinspektionen, is failing in several of its duties.

the Spelinspektionen was found to be “less effective than desirable”

The audit was commissioned to determine the results of the first five years of legal and regulated gambling in Sweden. Since the new gambling act was passed in 2019, the Spelinspektionen was found to be “less effective than desirable”.

The audit found a series of persistent issues with the regulator, including a mismanagement of resources and a lack of follow-ups after taking action against operators.

Shortcomings exposed

One of the main themes of the report was the Spelinspektionen’s poor resource use and inefficient time management priorities.

License application reviews and government assignments were considered to have been prioritized over other important tasks,

Hedvig Tängdén, the project leader on the audit, stated: “In this situation, it is particularly important that the supervisory resources are used where they bring the most benefit.”

“To achieve this, the Authority needs to base its supervisory planning on systematic risk analysis. This is not currently the case.”

the regulator had only followed up cases on one solitary occasion since 2019

Another major shortcoming that was highlighted was following up with operators who had been subjected to regulatory supervision. After decisions were made, the regulator had only followed up on cases on one solitary occasion since 2019, raising serious questions over whether its decisions are actually being enforced.

Work to do

The audit’s conclusion listed several recommendations for improvement, including incorporating long-term plans into supervision actions, a risk management-based approach to resource allocation, and providing regular reports to the Riksdag, Sweden’s main decision-making body.

Responding to the audit, the Director General of Spelinspektionen Camilla Rosenberg said: “We welcome the National Audit Office’s review, and since the re-regulation [we] have carried out ongoing change work and still have work to do.”

A lack of funding has been a persistent complaint by the regulator, who also acknowledged their own shortcomings. Last year, this led to a budget increase of SEK 2.4m ($227,764), which Rosenberg hopes will help address the issues.

“Several issues are still awaiting resolution in court. The Authority has also received increased budget funds for 2024 that we requested, which is a decisive factor in being able to develop the business further.”