Sweden revoked Ninja Casino owner's license over AML failures; shares fell 45%

Global Gaming 555 AB said it would immediately appeal Spelinspektionen's decision to revoke the Swedish license of its subsidiary SafeEnt, which ran the NinjaCasino.com and Spellandet.com online casinos. The decision took effect immediately, meaning the company's brands were no longer available in Sweden. News of the revocation emerged on a Monday, and Global Gaming's shares plummeted 45% that day.

The regulator's review found SafeEnt lacked effective anti-money-laundering and terrorist-financing tools, with 'serious and systematic shortcomings' in its risk assessment and KYC procedures. SafeEnt had also allowed gamblers to spend amounts well beyond their deposit limits, and had offered multiple bonuses to some customers — both breaches of the social-responsibility and bonus rules under Sweden's new gambling law, in force since January 1, 2019, under which Global Gaming was one of more than 70 licensed operators.

Global Gaming said the move came unexpectedly: it had previously discussed the shortcomings with Spelinspektionen and was left with the 'firm impression' that the actions taken had secured a correctly running operation. Acting CEO Tobias Fagerlund called the revocation disproportionate, saying the company had complied with its obligations as a licensee, that the decision lacked legal support, and that it would cause the company significant damage.

Swedish license revoked with immediate effect, brands off the market; shares fell 45% the day the decision emerged

Anti-money-laundering and terrorist-financing tools were judged ineffective, and risk assessment and KYC showed 'serious and systematic shortcomings'.

Customers were allowed to gamble well beyond their deposit limits, failing the social-responsibility duty the license carries.

Some customers were offered multiple bonuses, which Sweden's gambling law strictly prohibits.

The company treated earlier warnings and discussions with the regulator as assurance of compliance instead of fixing the controls.

Treat a supervisor's warnings as a deadline, not a dialogue: reading 'we discussed the shortcomings' as a clean bill of health is how a license disappears overnight.

Global Gaming appealed immediately, with Fagerlund saying the company had 'good reasons to believe' it would succeed. The revocation stood with immediate effect in the meantime, leaving Ninja Casino and Spellandet unavailable in Sweden.