Betsson to appeal fine imposed by Netherlands regulator

Swedish online gambling firm, Betsson AB, is appealing against the €300k fine imposed on its Dutch-facing subsidiary Corona Ltd.

The Netherlands’ Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) fined Corona Ltd €300k for illegally offering gambling to local punters via its Malta licenced Oranje and Kroon online casino sites without the approval of the KSA.

Betsson has however announced on Monday that Corona will be appealing the sanction.

According to a statement issued by the company, Corona “maintains its prior position that its operations comply with applicable laws and regulations in the absence of an EU-compliant gambling legislation in the Netherlands.”

Corona has vowed to take the matter to a court of law if the appeal fails.

The KSA fined Corona after resolving that the company has flouted several of its rules including failing to prevent Dutch punters from using their platform and proposing to the punters to utilize the “most popular payment method in Holland,’ aka e-commerce outfit iDEAL.

Though the Netherlands is currently putting in place measures to formalise a new online gambling regulatory regime, Betsson is legally challenging the KSA for its decision to punish operators for not waiting for the official starting day.

On this, the Nordic investment bankers ABG Sundal Collier indicated this week that Betsson’s litigation with the KSA may negatively affect the company as it may be “considered unsuitable for licensing” under the new regulated market. If this happens, Betsson would be the biggest loser as about 30% of the company’s profit is from the Dutch market.