Sweden May
Loosen Grip on Online Gambling with Conditions
 Sept
12 - Sweden is another example of another European Union member
country that has recognised the benefit of legalising,
regulating and thus taxing online gambling within its borders,
but yet still wants to keep its online gaming monopoly firmly in
place.
The Scandinavian country has up until now only permitted online
gambling via its government owned and run online gambling
operations, despite calls from the European Commission that this
is contravening the EU's fair competition rules and regulations.
Perhaps this is the reason why the Swedish government is
contemplating the opportunity to further fill its tax coffers by
allowing foreign-based online gambling companies to offer their
services in Sweden. Provided that they only offer online
sports betting facilities.
Currently Sweden's state online gambling monopoly offers online
poker and online sports betting facilities, so the new proposal
would still protect its lucrative online poker revenues, while
increasing its 'taxation-turnover' on foreign-owned online
sportsbooks.
The Swedish government would issue special licenses to foreign
companies to offer online sports betting but closely monitor
player activities to ensure that they only access online
sportsbooks. They would be prepared to restrict IP addresses and
block payment methods if players try to play online poker or
online casino games.
Said Jan Nyren, head of the Swedish Gambling Control Commission,
'We would only license online sports betting operators to accept
sports wagers, and not to operate online casinos or offer
traditional casino games such as slots, roulette, blackjack and
so forth.'
It is expected that the Swedish government will review the
proposal by December this year.
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