Swedish gambling inspectorate Spelinspektionen has ordered Mr Green Limited and Evoke Gaming to pay respective fines of SEK 1 million and SEK 450,000 for failing to meet its operator reporting standards.
The William Hill subsidiaries were deemed to have “shortcomings in their reporting duties” that provided the inspectorate with incorrect data related to their market activities”.
In 2021, Mr Green and Evoke were placed under ‘technical supervision’ by the inspectorate that had received substandard interim reports from the operators.
The submission of interim reports has been a key compliance requisite of Spelinspektionen used to inform wider Swedish authorities of market activities relating to operator conduct, financial crime, safer gambling and customer care duties.
Both Mr Green and Evoke, the subsidiary which maintains the WilliamHill.se licence, acknowledged that it had been unable to provide Spelinspektionen with all relevant information due to ‘technical difficulties’ adjusting to new market commands.
Placed under supervision, Mr Green and Evoke would resubmit their interim reports. However, the inspectorate determined them to have ‘technical errors’ that presented ‘differing interpretations on key data’.
Following 2019’s re-organisation of Sweden’s online gambling marketplace, Evoke Gaming admitted to technical struggles adjusting to the compliance demands of the new regime.
Last year, Evoke Gaming was ordered to review all 2019 customer accounts on its network of WilliamHill.se, Bertil, Mama Mia Bingo and Vinnarum – as the brands were deemed to have allowed players to ‘self confirm’ their ID verifications.
Further Swedish market headwinds for William Hill, saw Mr Green lose its appeal to contest a SEK 30 million (€3m) penalty by Spelinspektionen for failure to maintain market standards on customer care and AML duties.The Court of Linköping deemed Spelinspektionen fine to be ‘fair and proportionate’ as Mr Green had infringed on the terms of the Swedish Money Laundering Act, compliance with which is a key licence holder requirement.
