Finnish National Police Board Reports Rise in Gambling Marketing Fines

Finland’s National Police Board reported on October 14, 2026, that it has issued four prohibition decisions and imposed six conditional fines in 2026 for gambling marketing that violates the Lotteries Act, with conditional fines for companies reaching €1.2 million, an enforcement level the board said was clearly above that of earlier years.

The prohibition decisions were issued for the illegal marketing of gambling games on websites and social media. The decisions were reinforced with conditional fines ranging from €30,000 to €200,000 for natural persons and from €100,000 to €1.2 million for companies. Where the board has ordered conditional fines to be paid, they have been imposed on natural persons and have run between €20,000 and €100,000.

The National Police Board’s Gambling Administration supervises the marketing of gambling games. The board said illegal gambling games are actively marketed in Finland, most often on social media platforms and in gaming and gambling livestreams, and that such marketing can seek to win consumers living in mainland Finland as customers and encourage participation in gambling games in Finland.

How Prohibition Decisions and Conditional Fines Work

Enforcement of the marketing rules runs through an administrative procedure that can end in a prohibition decision if the illegal activity continues. A prohibition decision can be directed at a company or an individual and is, as a rule, reinforced by a conditional fine. The board sets the amount of a conditional fine according to the scope and nature of the violation and the violating party’s ability to pay, and it said the purpose of both measures is to prevent the illegal activity from continuing. Under police guidance on the marketing of gambling, marketing that violates the Lotteries Act may also result in a penalty payment.

The board said imposing a conditional fine is justified when illegal marketing continues despite a warning from the National Police Board and there are grounds to assume the service provider will not otherwise comply with the prohibition.

“The National Police Board orders the payment of a conditional fine imposed to reinforce the prohibition decision only in those cases where the prohibition decision is not complied with within the specified time limit, that is, the party subject to the prohibition has failed to fulfil the obligation imposed on them by the prohibition to refrain from marketing gambling games in violation of the Lotteries Act,” said Juhani Wallinvirta, Head of Group at the National Police Board.

Broad Marketing Definition and the Veikkaus Monopoly

The board described the definition of marketing gambling games as broad, covering various forms of advertising and other sales promotion and extending to all activities aimed at increasing demand for gambling games. The Lotteries Act definition comprises three elements — advertising, indirect advertising and other sales promotion activities — and covers marketing that aims to raise demand for gambling services, improve a provider’s visibility or affect its image.

Under existing law, only Veikkaus Oy has the right to market gambling games in mainland Finland, Wallinvirta said. Until June 30, 2027, Veikkaus Oy is the only operator permitted to market gambling services in Finland, and the Lotteries Act grants the company the exclusive right to organise gambling in the country until the end of June 2027, according to police guidance on the supervision of gambling.

Finland’s gambling system is undergoing a reform that will open the market to competition. From July 1, 2027, the system will be based on the new Gambling Act and licensed entities will be able to offer gambling services. Under transitional provisions, licence applications have been accepted since March 1, 2026, and in 2026 they are submitted to the National Police Board, but no licence will enter into force before July 1, 2027, according to the police gambling guidance. Organising or marketing gambling in Finland without a licence is not permitted, and from July 1, 2028, supplying software for gambling will require a gaming software licence from the supervisory authority.

Harm Rationale and Enforcement Powers

The board said preventing gambling harms is a key objective of Finland’s gambling policy, with risks that affect not only the individual gambler but also their loved ones and society more broadly. Online gambling in particular takes place in an easily accessible and fast-paced environment that is conducive to the rapid development of gambling-related problems, the board said, and in a digital environment marketing reaches a wide audience in a short space of time, so enforcement needs a means effective enough to end illegal marketing without delay.

“The imposition of a conditional fine may be considered necessary to ensure an immediate and effective end to the illegal marketing of gambling games. The purpose of the conditional fine is not to punish illegal activities, but to reinforce compliance with the prohibition decision and to ensure that illegal marketing actually ceases,” Wallinvirta said.

Wallinvirta said gambling marketing does more than pass on information about the games on offer: it can build awareness of gambling service providers, increase the availability of and demand for gambling games, and prompt people to start or keep playing.

The National Police Board may intervene in unlawful gambling activities on the basis of its own observations or reports from outside parties, and it has the power to ban the provision or marketing of gambling services, with bans applicable both to gambling providers and to marketers of illegal gambling services, according to police guidance on illegal gambling. A licence is required to market gambling whenever the marketing targets Finland. Organising gambling illegally in Finland is a criminal offence, and gambling services offered by operators other than Veikkaus Oy are prohibited and punishable under the Criminal Code when their activities target Finland.

The National Police Board will continue to supervise and license gambling activities until the end of June 2027. From July 1, 2027, gambling in Finland will be supervised and licensed by the Supervisory Agency.