Swedish regulator Håkan Hallstedt unexpectedly quits

Sweden’s regulatory chief Håkan Hallstedt has resigned from his position, EGR Intel has learned, potentially dealing a blow to hopes that Sweden could be ready to embrace a fully-liberalised online gambling market.

Hallstead, who was appointed to the position of general director of the Swedish Gambling Authority in 2008, had been due to stand down from his position at the end of his current term in September, but will instead leave his role at the end of March.

In 2015, Hallstedt, was appointed by the Swedish government to take a seat on the board of investigators, which was set up to look at how the country should approach re-reregulation of the market, in which Svenska Spel currently enjoys a monopoly position.

The two-year investigation is due to come to an end imminently, with the board expected to report its findings and present its recommendations to government on 31 March.

Hallstedt this morning informed EGR Intel that while he would remain part of the process up until the report’s submission, he would play no further part in the re-regulation process thereafter.

Speaking to EGR Intel, Ulrik Bengtsson, president and CEO of Betsson Group, said he was surprised to see Hallstedt tender his resignation and had hoped the director general would stay on with the process following the submission of the inquiry.

“This may create a hiccup in the process, and we would of course like to see this process moved forward,” Bengtsson said. “It’s definitely a surprise, and we have hoped he would continue working with the regulation process.

“There’s been a large number of attempts to reregulate Swedish gambling and they have all failed and we hoped it would happen this time around, but this is the kind of thing that can mean further delays,” he added.

Hallstedt, who is known advocate of an open licensing system, told EGR Intel he would take on a role of District Court Judge from May.