Changes to gambling laws in Finland
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The Finnish Parliament approved the Finnish Gambling Law Reform at the end of 2021. Most of the changes entered into force on January 1st of 2022 and the rest will be implemented on 1 January of 2023. The new law aims to strengthen the position of government-owned betting agency Veikkaus and to reduce the harm caused by gambling.
Changes to gambling laws in Finland affect marketing. If a company is found guilty of infringing the marketing prohibitions, it will be placed on a blacklist and subject to payment blocking. Many online casinos have already stopped advertising on the Finnish market.
The payment blocking scheme will be implemented in 2023 at the earliest. It is unclear which payment providers will get affected by the new scheme. e-wallets and prepaid payment cards are unlikely to be affected. The costs related to the development of the systems required would be enormous.
Changes to gambling laws in Finland will not affect playing on online casinos. The law reform does not change the fact that playing online is still legal and so is offering casino games to Finnish players.
