Judgment in the Court of Appeal: Warning and Penalty Charge for Mr. Green Limited

SWEDEN (May 30, 2024) — On 27 May 2024, the Court of Appeal issued a judgment in the case against Mr Green Limited regarding shortcomings in the duty of care.

The Court of Appeal agrees with the Gambling Inspectorate’s and the Administrative Court’s assessments that the duty of care also includes an obligation for license holders to independently limit a customer’s gambling in order to counteract damage from excessive gambling. With regard to the customers in question, the Court of Appeal considers that the company has not acted quickly enough to counteract excessive gambling and has thereby breached the duty of care.

The Court of Appeal agrees with the sub-instances’ assessments that Mr. Green should be given a warning and a penalty fee imposed. The penalty fee is set at SEK 12 million. With regard to the size of the penalty fee, the Court of Appeal takes into account a guiding ruling from the Supreme Administrative Court from 2023 on how penalty fees according to the Gambling Act should be calculated (HFD 2023 ref. 25). The Court of Appeal considers that the penalty fee that the Swedish Gaming Authority now advocates is proportionate, and the court therefore decides that the penalty fee should be determined at this amount.

Background

The Swedish Gaming Authority decided to give Mr. Green a warning with a penalty fee due to shortcomings in the work to combat money laundering. The penalty fee in that part was set at SEK 1.5 million. The Swedish Gaming Authority decided at the same time to issue Mr. Green with a warning with a penalty fee due to the company’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the duty of care. In that part, the penalty fee was set at SEK 30 million. The company appealed the decision to the administrative court, which rejected the appeal. Mr. Green appealed the judgment to the Court of Appeal only regarding deficiencies in the duty of care.

Decision: Mr Green Limited, warning and penalty charge

SOURCE: Spelinspektionen.