Finland is continuing to polish its gambling legislation as it looks to cement its planned timeline of the implementation of its licensing regime at the start of next year, with the publication of two draft technical regulations.
According to Nordic Legal, one draft regulation focuses on random number generation and game integrity, while the other will provide guidance on system reliability and information security.
For RNG and game integrity, the way in which it is implemented, maintained and documented will be analysed, offering a formal approval process that requires traceability, change control and verifiable testing.
System reliability and information security regulations will see interested licence stakeholders be subject to a biennial information security test and an annual external vulnerability scan, both to be carried out by accredited inspection bodies.
Businesses will be given a pass or fail on these measureables, based on international scoring methodology, with emphasis on demonstrating continuous monitoring and remediation in a timely manner.
Game integrity outcomes, personal and transactional data security and log files and game event information protection will be analysed in the information security test, while the annual vulnerability scan will regularly check for exploitable weaknesses.
Under both draft regulations, accredited ISO or IEC standards inspection bodies will be utilised.
Accreditation scopes assessed against Danish or Swedish technical regulations may be used, while businesses that are active elsewhere across the Nordics may be able to support their case with existing certification, but the extent to which they will be able to do this is currently unknown.
Is Veikkaus up for sale?
The launch of a licensing regime in Finland will bring an end to Veikkaus’ monopoly in the country, but the state-owned operator’s future as a business may currently be in flux.
Earlier this month, in an interview with MTV News, Maija Strandberg, Finland’s Director General of Ownership Steering, indicated that there’s a possibility a public listing is on the cards for Veikkaus in 2027.
Jari Vähänen, Co-Founder & Partner at The Finnish Gambling Consultants, pitched during a recent SBC webinar that Finland and Veikkaus could follow the path of FDJ United in France, abiding by current legislation that states the exclusive licence holder should be directly controlled by the state, which doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be owned by the state.
“They can even sell the majority but have different kinds of stocks there. So, in practice, if that will happen, let’s assume that Finland will privatise just the multi-license part of the Veikkaus, it should be quite simple to actually do.
“If they listed the whole of Veikkaus, there will be at least four separate entities under the Veikkaus umbrella when the legislation changes at the beginning of 2027 – a technology company, a current B2B provider, Fennica Gaming and then the multi-license – they are private or will be private entities competing against the other companies, but then they tell different stories than the exclusive license holder Veikkaus, so I don’t know how that could happen.
“My personal opinion is that from a business perspective and also from a legal perspective, it would be much better when the state doesn’t have too big a role in the business, when they are regulating and setting laws for the same business.”
Finland’s licensed regulated market is currently scheduled to launch in January 2027.
