Finland Intensifies Illegal Marketing Crackdown with Fines up to €1.2m
The Finnish National Police Board has issued substantial conditional fines and prohibition orders against illegal gambling marketers, as the country prepares to end its state monopoly and launch a licensed market in 2027.
- Finnish authorities have issued prohibition orders and conditional fines of up to €1.2m for illegal gambling marketing.
- Enforcement is focused on digital platforms, including social media and live streams, ahead of market liberalisation in 2027.
- The crackdown comes as interest in the future licensed market grows, with the regulator having received 75 applications.
Finnish authorities have significantly intensified enforcement against illegal gambling marketing this year, issuing multiple prohibition decisions and substantial conditional fines. The National Police Board announced on Wednesday that its actions target both companies and individuals promoting unauthorised gambling services to residents in mainland Finland.
So far in 2024, the Gambling Administration has handed down four formal prohibition decisions and levied six conditional fines for breaches of the country's Lotteries Act. The enforcement campaign is primarily focused on illegal promotions disseminated through digital channels, with authorities citing websites, social media, and live-streaming platforms as key areas of concern.
The conditional fines accompanying the prohibition orders range from €30,000 to €200,000 for individuals, and between €100,000 and €1.2 million for corporate entities. In cases where recipients have failed to comply with the marketing bans, the board has collected actual fine payments from individuals falling between €20,000 and €100,000.
According to the National Police Board, there has been a notable surge in illegal marketing on digital platforms. The administration, where Juhani Wallinvirta is a head of group, operates under a comprehensive legal definition of “marketing gambling games,” which encompasses advertising and various sales promotion activities aimed at increasing gambling demand.
Preparing for Market Liberalisation
The crackdown is taking place against the backdrop of a fundamental shift in Finland's gambling policy. The country currently operates a tightly regulated market through a national monopoly, where Veikkaus Oy is the sole entity authorised to market gambling. However, this monopoly is set to be dismantled next year.
Finland is preparing to open its market to private, licensed operators in July 2027. The move has generated significant interest from the international industry. The National Police Board reported last month that it had already received 75 applications for the liberalised market, a substantial increase from the 50 applications recorded just a month earlier in June.
The incumbent, Veikkaus, is bracing for the change. Speaking in July of last year, its iGaming EVP Jarkko Nordlund acknowledged the challenge ahead.
The competition will be fierce when the market opens, so we must be very competitive. Our aim is to challenge the mentality of our current position, so we need to secure market leadership.
While enforcement against illegal marketing is a key priority, other measures are also under consideration. A survey from this spring revealed that Finnish residents widely regard the blocking of payments to unlicensed gambling sites as the most effective single tool to combat the black market, suggesting a potential future focus for regulators.
