Gustaf Hoffstedt speaker at Mare Balticum Gaming Summit 2018

Mare Balticum Gaming Summit 2018 is attracting high profiled executives of the online gambling industry from the Baltic and Scandinavian region, but also the international operators are gearing up to be present at the event.

The content of the event promises to bring a high volume of information about the region and also offers a great chance to network with the regulators. Among the hot topics of the event, you will also find the Swedish market update, which will be presented by Gustaf Hoffstedt, who is the Secretary General of Bos, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling since January 2015. The gambling media has been focusing recently to the updates of the Swedish gambling market and to quote Sweden’s Public Administration Minister, Ardalan Shekarabi: “Unregulated gambling has taken over and gambling is used in criminal activities. – It is 14 years since the first in a line of gambling inquiries was appointed. It is now time for us to move from words to actions and regain control of the Swedish gambling market.” Sweden’s officials are hoping to tighten regulations for online gambling for the Scandinavian country as lawmakers have proposed new legislation for the following year. The prospective measures would include a new licensing system, which would establish prohibitions against the illegal operation of online gaming and gambling websites; launching stronger protections for consumers. An official governmental press release declared that these procedures could come into effect as new legislation as soon as January 1, 2019, with costs for a combined online casino and sports betting license estimated at roughly $84,000 given current currency rates. The government has declared the new law proposals as a deterrent for any upcoming online casino operators to open business as well as hope that it would essentially halt current online gambling operations without a license from offering their services to players in the country. Essentially all unlicensed online gambling providers would be required to close their doors. The potential mandate would also directly create more thorough consumer protections particularly in reference to memberships where bonuses are a requirement. Customers would be granted the right to exclude themselves from bonuses, whereas currently they do not have this option. Prior to the talks of new gaming regulation, Swedish online gambling operators have been able to operate practically unregulated; being able to charge whatever rates on deposits they see fit for returning or fist time players. Many of the online casinos also do not address problem gambling, and essentially have been able to squeeze money out of players who otherwise might not be encouraged to participate if tighter restrictions were in place. Gustaf Hoffstedt Secretary General of BOS, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling since January 2015. Among the association’s members are all major operators and suppliers that operate with a license inside the European Union, but outside of Sweden. Prior to joining Bos, Gustaf served as a Member of the Swedish Parliament for the Moderate party, and as vice mayor and chairman of the Social board in his constituency Gotland before that. Gustaf has fought for the abolition of the Swedish gambling monopoly and the implementation of a licensing system for more than a decade. He is pleased to see that things currently appear to be moving in the right direction. Gustaf resides in Uppsala with his wife Caroline, who serves as vice mayor in the municipality for the Social Democratic party – the traditional rival of Gustaf’s own party. In their leisure time, they enjoy hiking in the mountains of northern Scandinavia. The “The state of the industry in Denmark and Sweden” panel discussion will be moderated by Dr. Joerg Hoffman (Melchers Law Germany) who will be joined by seasoned expert speakers such as Morten Ronde(Ceo of the Danish Online Gambling Association), Sissel Weitzhandler (Group Compliance Manager at Play’n Go), Birgitte Sand (Director, Danish Gambling Authority) Mare Balticum Gaming Summit is designed to focus on the Baltics and the Scandinavian region by bringing a wealth of information from the local regulators and operators.