UKGC inks information sharing agreement with Swedish Gambling Authority

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA), pledging to cooperate and share information around online regulation.

Under the terms of the agreement both regulators agree to engage on matters of “mutual policy and operational interest”, together with providing assistance to each other.

The agreement stipulates this will begin with informal discussions before moving towards more in-depth regular cooperation.

Collaboration between the two regulators also covers AML issues and “mutual assistance” on obtaining cross-border technical or platform data on betting and online gambling operators.

UKGC CEO Neil McArthur said he looked forward to working with Swedish regulators over the coming months and years.

McArthur claimed the agreement would create “more opportunities” to share best practice on regulatory issues, increase cooperation and take shared action where appropriate.

The SGA currently has MoU information sharing agreements in place with the Malta Gaming Authority and the Gibraltar Gambling Division.

SGA director general Camilla Rosenberg hailed the agreement as the beginning of a “broad and long-term cooperation” between the two regulators.

“This is an important agreement for us. We have common interest in many areas. By opening the communication channels between the authorities we become stronger in our supervisory activities,” Rosenberg said.

The SGA previously used data from a UKGC enforcement ruling to restrict the terms of LeoVegas Swedish licence to two years from the required five-year norm because of prior regulatory infractions.

The company won its appeal to overturn this decision in October following a legal challenge in the Swedish courts after the Malta-headquartered operator questioned whether the SGA could use other regulatory decisions in its own decision making process.