Finland’s parliament this week voted down a series of major amendments to the country’s new online gambling bill, with the legislation now set to progress with only minor changes.
Last week, opposition parties in Finland put forward several proposed changes for the bill in parliament. The bill is currently making its way through the Finnish parliament after being read and amended by the Administrative Committee. Next week the final legislation will be formally voted on.
Among the amendments proposed by opposition members was an increase in the minimum gambling age to 20, up from the current limit of 18. Opposition parties also called for mandatory two-factor authentication for each login option via licensed websites, as well as central deposits and loss limits across all operators and a blanket ban on gambling bonuses.
Other changes targeted at operators included raising the gambling tax rate to 25.5% of GGR.
Marketing targeted with bill amendments
There was also a strong focus on marketing and advertising in the amendments. Among the proposed changes was a ban on TV and radio advertising for licensed products, with the exception of Veikkaus, which currently has a monopoly on Finland’s iGaming market. This was in addition to a complete ban on gambling ads across all sports and public events.
Opposition also suggested including tobacco-style warning labels in gambling marketing, as well as a ban on direct marketing to anyone under the age of 24. There was also a proposal for the Ministry of the Interior to publish a definition of what it viewed as “moderate” levels of marketing for clarity.
Each amendment was voted on as a single entity at a hearing earlier this week. However, all were rejected by a vote of 153-21 on Wednesday, with 25 MPs declared as absent from the session. As such, the bill will now move forward without the proposed changes, taking Finland a step closer to an expanded legal iGaming market.
Rejection of bill amendments ‘no surprise’
Responding to the result, Antti Koivula, chief compliance officer for ATG’s Finnish joint venture Hippos ATG, said in a LinkedIn post that the vote was “decisive”. In a previous post, he had predicted the amendments would be turned down.
Koivula highlighted how the amendments only had the support of some of the opposition in Finland. The Greens and Left Alliance had given their backing to the proposals, but other parties stopped short of pledging their support.
“This outcome surprised absolutely no one,” Koivula said. “If anything was surprising, it was how overwhelmingly the proposal was defeated, even within the opposition itself.”
Should the legislation eventually pass, it would open up a multi-licensing system for online gambling in the country.
The regulated sector is due to open in 2027, with much of next year to be spent putting in place licensing and approving operators for launch ahead of this date. Also in 2027, Finland is due to hold national elections, and Koivula stated that a change in government may be the only way to alter the future direction of the Finnish iGaming market.
There have been suggestions within the media in recent weeks that the initial launch date of January 2027 will be pushed back, as government elections loom in April.
“We shall see what happens in the next governmental term, beginning after April 2027 elections, if the current opposition parties are back in government,” Koivula added. “Maybe it should be added that it’s unlikely that anything this drastic will be approved in the next governmental term either.”
All amendments put forward by the opposition parties were overwhelmingly rejected by the Finnish parliament.