Swedish Gaming Authority cancels the legal position on negative equity

(PRESS RELEASE) -- In the light of a judgment in the administrative court, the Swedish Gambling Authority revokes the legal position on the importance of negative equity in the license review.

In light of the administrative law in Linköping's judgment in case no. 9596-22, the Gambling Authority has decided to cancel the legal position on "The significance of negative equity when assessing suitability according to ch. 4. 1 § 3 of the Gaming Act" from 20 October 2020.

The Swedish Gaming Authority also continues to believe that a negative equity usually means that the suitability requirement cannot be considered fulfilled. For applicants who are part of a group, in some cases the group's combined capital strength can be taken into account. This applies to both first-time applications and applications for renewed licenses. A prerequisite, however, is that the group's resources are relevant and are actually at the applicant's disposal, which can be shown, for example, through a capital guarantee.

The Swedish Gaming Authority believes that a capital guarantee from a private person cannot be accepted as a starting point in view of the difficulties in obtaining a reliable picture of a natural person's financial position.

The extent to which the group's capital strength can be taken into account and what capital strength is required for the conditions for a license to be considered fulfilled will be decided in each individual case.