Spelinspektionen, the Gambling Inspectorate of Sweden, has urged licensees and stakeholders to engage with the ‘AMLA consultations’ to help improve the legitimacy and effectiveness of money laundering policies, practices and safeguards for EU Member States.
AMLA serves as the ‘Anti-Money Laundering Authority’, an EU-authorised supervisory body established in 2024 to support Member State governments and Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) with evidence and data to prosecute AML/CFT crimes and strengthen overall protections.
Within its remit, AMLA was established to help EU Member States align and implement money laundering safeguards in accordance with the EU’s new AML legislative package, including the AML Regulation and the 6th AML Directive, sanctioned on 14 June 2024.
The 6th AML Directive is regarded as a landmark reform in the EU’s harmonisation of anti-money laundering rules. The framework introduces 22 standardised definitions of “predicate money laundering offences”, including crimes such as cybercrime and environmental offences. The Directive also extends criminal liability to legal entities, ensuring that companies can be held directly accountable for breaches.
In parallel, the Directive strengthens sanctioning powers and increases penalties across Member States, reinforcing enforcement consistency throughout the EU. As such, Swedish gambling licensees have been asked to consider providing feedback to AMLA’s three pending consultations on:
- Draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on sanction fees, administrative measures and fines, with a response deadline of 9 March.
- Draft RTS on criteria for identifying business relationships, occasional transactions and connected transactions, with a response deadline of 8 May.
- Draft RTS on customer due diligence, with a response deadline of 8 May.
In its consultation notice, AMLA stated: “Public consultations are open to all stakeholders with an interest in the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
“We particularly welcome contributions from obliged entities, public authorities, self-regulatory bodies, international institutions and organisations, civil society organisations, consumer representatives, academia, and investigative journalists.”
2026 – Inspectorate tightens Swedish AML duties
In 2026, Spelinspektionen adopted a new enforcement chapter governing Swedish gambling, its licensees and operating environments.
2025 saw the Riksdag grant the Inspectorate new powers to authorise checks and investigations into financial transactions related to Swedish gambling. The Inspectorate can require Swedish authorities to suspend transfers and accounts linked to suspicious banking transactions.
Of significance, legislative changes have aligned the maximum fines for Money Laundering Act violations with those of the Gambling Act. Previously, AML fines were significantly lower, but they can now reach the same maximum thresholds to better combat organised crime.
From 1 January 2027, as proposed in the 2026 legislative package, criminal liability will extend to payment service providers that facilitate unlicensed gambling, with potential penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment.
Sweden’s next regulatory transition will take effect from 1 April 2026, when Spelinspektionen and the Ministry of Finance implement a full ban on credit-funded gambling transactions. Licensed operators will be prohibited from processing payments linked to credit cards, personal loans, overdrafts or buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) products.
The measure is regarded as one of the most comprehensive prohibitions on credit-based gambling transactions introduced by a European state.
