The Swedish gambling authority, Spelinspektionen, has appointed Johan Röhr as its acting Director General following the announcement of Camilla Rosenberg’s scheduled departure from the role earlier this month.
Rosenberg will be stepping down from the Director General position at the end of October to become the new Director and Head of the Swedish Real Estate Agents’ Inspectorate.
From 1 November, Röhr will step in as the authority’s acting Director General, a position he will hold until a new Director General is appointed.
Claes Norgren, Chair at Spelinspektionen, noted that Röhr’s extensive business experience will help with continuity in management, with its operations continuing “as planned and at an unabated pace while waiting for a new Director General”.
For the past 17 years, Röhr has been the Chief Legal Officer of the Swedish gambling authority.
As for Rosenberg, she had been in charge of Spelinspektionen since 2017, initially as interim Director before being appointed into the role permanently later the same year.
During her time with the authority, she oversaw the relaunch of Sweden’s gambling market in January 2019, opening the region to licensed online gaming and sports betting operators.
Other changes have occurred in the market, including reforms on customer incentives, compliance and duty of care requirements, as well as stricter advertising standards.
Norgren said on Rosenberg’s departure: “I would like to thank Camilla Rosenberg for her meritorious work at the Swedish Gambling Authority during a time of profound changes in the gambling market. I congratulate her on her new position.
“Operations will continue as planned and at an unabated pace pending the appointment of a new Director General.”
Dropping channelisation rate
The news of a change at the top of Spelinspektionen follows the recent report of channelisation rate declines in Sweden, as the authority estimated that the country’s competitive gambling market channelisation rate in 2024 was 85%, down 1% when compared to the previous year’s 86%.
Channelisation differed between gambling types as well, with Spelinspektionen noting that sports betting generally has a higher degree of channelisation (92% to 96%) in comparison to online casinos (72% to 82%).
In response, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), has called for effective regulatory measures and for a review of the current legislative structure for the licensed Swedish gambling market.
BOS Secretary General, Gustaf Hoffstedt, commented: “With this assessment, the SGA confirms that Sweden’s major problem in the gambling market is online casino. It is unacceptable that around a quarter of all online casino gambling is leaking out of the licensed market.
“It is equally unacceptable that this has been accepted by political decision-makers for half a decade, since the channelisation has also been low in previous assessments, without effective regulatory measures being taken.
“Later this month, gambling investigator Marcus Isgren’s proposal to change the scope of the Gambling Act will be presented. It is a welcome change in the law that will criminalise almost all unlicensed gambling in Sweden.
“But anyone who understands the gambling market knows that the elephant in the room is that the licensed market is so tightly regulated that it does not appear attractive enough in the eyes of the consumer. Without a review of, for example, the total ban on bonuses and other loyalty programs, next year’s channelisation assessment from the SGA will also be a disappointment.”
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