Swedish Gambling Authority Warns Betway Over Negative Equity

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) has issued a warning to Betway for violating license restrictions governing minimum equity requirements. The commission ordered Betway's annual report and audited financial statements for the 2019 fiscal year in July 2020. Betway lost €50.3 million ($56.5 million) over this period and had negative equity of €4.8 million ($5.4 million).

The SGA argues that an operator's risk increases with negative equity and has requested Betway to remedy its negative equity issue. As a result, Betway received a capital guarantee from its parent company in October 2021. According to Sweden's gaming regulation, Betway lacks capital and relies entirely on parent company support. The commission further stated that the parent company's capital assurance only covers a portion of the negative equity.

Betway claims that its previous statements show a solid financial position and satisfy all license requirements moving forward. This isn't the first instance that Betway had trouble with the SGA. In December, Betway was fined SEK100,000 ($10,773) for inadvertently granting access to a bonus campaign intended as a welcome offer for one of the company's smaller brands to all of its customers.