Swedish regulator warns Enlabs over lack of activity

The Swedish Gaming Authority (Spelinspektionen) has warned igaming operator Enlabs that it could lose its licence if it does not commence gaming activities in the country by July.

Baltic-facing Enlabs was awarded a licence to operate online betting and gaming in December 2018 ahead of the country’s regulated igaming market opening on 1 January 2019.

However, according to Spelinspektionen, the operator is yet to go live in Sweden. Due to this lack of activity, the regulator has issued an official warning to Enabs.

It said if Enlabs does not commence gaming activities before 1 July 2020, it could withdraw the online betting and gaming licence.

The licence is valid until 31 December 2023 and permits Enlabs to operate under a range of domains, for its BestBet and Optibet brands.

In response, Enlabs chief executive George Ustinov said the warning was not unexpected and set out plans to launch in Sweden before the July deadline.

“The Swedish Gambling Authority decision to give us a warning due to inactivity was not unexpected and do not change our communicated strategy for the Swedish market,” Ustinov said.

“We believe the authority’s assessment is reasonable and we will offer games under our Swedish licence no later than June 2020, and thus retain the licence.

He noted that there was no risk of a financial penalty should it fail to launch by Spelinspektionen's deadline.

“We look forward to a launch in Sweden and continue to monitor market conditions in order to seize the opportunities that arise.”

Last month, Enlabs announced Ustinov, formerly its chief operating officer and chief financial officer, as its new chief executive. Ustinov replaced former Catena Media chief Robert Andersson, who stepped down from his operational assignments with the operator after two years as its president and CEO.

Ustinov takes on his role new having only been appointed as COO in December last year, as part of a reshuffle that saw Adam Jonsson succeed Ustinov as CFO.