Global loses latest appeal against Swedish licence decision

Online gambling operator Global Gaming has failed in its effort to overturn a decision to strip its SafeEnt subsidiary of its Swedish licence after the country’s Administrative Court rejected an appeal.

National regulator Spelinspektionen in June revoked SafeEnt’s licences for both commercial online gambling and betting for “serious deficiencies” in business practices, including failings related to responsible gambling and anti-money laundering measures.

Global Gaming then appealed the decision to the Administrative Court, which has how rejected the appeal. The operator did not disclose the reasons behind the ruling.

Tobias Fagerlund, chief executive of Global Gaming, said the operator could now take its case to the Administrative Court of Appeal.

“We are disappointed by the court ruling and do not share their opinion,” he said. “We are now examining the decision in detail and I assume that we will appeal this decision to the Administrative Court of Appeal.”

The ruling is the latest blow in Global Gaming’s bit to re-enter the regulated Swedish market. The operator has filed a series of appeals as part of the effort, only to have the courts rule in favour of Spelinspektionen on each occasion.

In August, the Supreme Administrative Court rejected an appeal for temporary relief from the original ruling. Global Gaming had wanted to continue operating SafeEnt while the main appeal was heard.

The Administrative Court in Linköping also previously turned down a request from Global Gaming to suspend the revocation while the main appeal was debated. Global Gaming then failed in a bid to overturn this ruling.

However, despite being without its SafeEnt subsidiary in Sweden, Global Gaming is now active in Sweden through a partnership with Finnplay Group.

NanoCasino launched under a Swedish commercial online gaming licence held by Viral Interactive Limited, which has a marketing arrangement in place with one of Global Gaming's subsidiaries. Viral Interactive, a subsidiary of Finnplay, has full responsibility for operating the NanoCasino.com site in Sweden.

In September, Global Gaming also transferred its NinjaCasino.se domain to Viral Interactive, with the aim of resuming activities in the Swedish market months after the licence was revoked.