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Finnish National Police Board issued a statement in regard to one of Europe's biggest online gambling operators. “We are aware of Betssons activities - resources focused on swiftly resolving the issue”.
Finnish gaming market expert Antti Koivula has widely covered the developments regarding Betsson.
He notes that, on February 29, Betsson's subsidiary BML Group Ltd were placed on the Blacklist in Finland after losing a court battle.
Soon after being Blacklisted, however, Betsson moved the brands affected to another entity in an attempt which purpose appears to be to circumvent the payment blocking in Finland.
More specifically, Rizk Nordic Limited is now overseeing all of its gaming services.
“For customers residing in the European Union (excluding customers residing in Sweden and sportsbook customers residing in Ireland), the operator of this website is Rizk Nordic Limited, company registration number C101569, having its registered address at Betsson Experience Centre, Ta’ Xbiex Seafront, Ta’ Xbiex, XBX1027, Malta. Rizk Nordic Limited is licensed and regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority under licence MGA/B2C/959/2022 issued on the 7th November 2022.”
Betsson, and for that matter any alias it chooses to use, is effectively banned from operating in the Scandinavian nation of nearly 5.5 million people.
The Police Board is aware of Betsson's operations. "The Police Board seeks to ensure through its own actions that the gambling marketing it has prohibited has indeed ceased, and if it were to continue, we would take action," says Mikko Cantell, Senior Inspector of the Police Board's Lottery Administration.
Cantell states that resources have been focused on swiftly resolving the issue. He does not disclose potential actions, Koivula notes.
More from Koivula:
The payment blocking system has not been tested before. Cantell remarks that the situation is interesting and novel. According to attorney Minna Ripatti, however, the actions cannot come as a surprise to anyone. Ripatti is a founding partner of the law firm Legal Gaming specializing in gambling law. "It will be interesting to see how the Police Board, as the responsible authority, will react to such clearly unlawful activity," she says.
Cantell says the situation did not come as a surprise to the Police Board. He admits that the Police Board's means are not perfect and are characterized by slowness. Monitoring gambling activities also ties up a significant amount of police resources. "But when the goalposts move, we play towards a new goal."
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
