Swedish Regulator Fines Kindred’s Spooniker $1M

Spooniker, a subsidiary of Kindred, has to pay SEK 10 million ($1 million) after the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen found major gaps in the company’s security measures.

Spelinspektionen Fines Spooniker 

The regulator identified deficiencies in Kindred’s Spooniker subsidiary related to its safeguards against terrorist financing and its anti-money laundering systems. In an official press release, Kindred acknowledged its failures and explained that it has already taken measures to improve its service. However, the company also stated that it is considering appealing the fine.

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA/Spelinspektionen) is known for its strict approach toward non-compliant operators, having issued numerous fines since the re-regulated market launched in January 2019. Since that time, several operators have criticized the online gambling regulatory framework as being unclear and subject to interpretation.

Moving forward, Spooniker will be required to monitor high-risk customers more effectively and conduct more thorough risk assessments. This will involve comprehensive reviews of customer spending and financial solvency, along with a more detailed examination of the payment methods they use. 

The Swedish Regulator Has Fined Spooniker Before

Spooniker has received at least two formal warnings from the regulator over the past few years. One such case is from 2020 when the company was fined SEK 100 million ($9.6 million) for offering unauthorized gambling products and providing illegal bonuses. Spooniker appealed the fine, and while the Swedish court initially rejected the appeal to revoke the fines, eventually the company had to pay a reduced fine of SEK50 million (about $4.8 million). According to the court, Kindred’s Spooniker brand violated the country’s gaming rules, but determined that the amount of the fine wasn’t justified, thus the reduced fine.

Kindred states that over the past few years, it has worked to improve its processes by strengthening anti-money laundering measures, implementing new controls to identify at-risk gamblers, and conducting more comprehensive risk assessments. The company has also reported an increase in both the number of customers undergoing risk assessments and the volume of suspicious transaction reports submitted to financial authorities.