Finland: conditional fines for illegal gambling marketing

On 14 October 2026 the Gambling Administration of Finland’s National Police Board reported a sharp rise in enforcement against illegal gambling marketing. So far this year it has issued four prohibition decisions and imposed six conditional fines — a number the board describes as “clearly higher than in previous years”.

The numbers

The prohibitions concern illegal marketing of gambling games on websites and social media. All were reinforced with conditional fines:

€30,000 to €200,000 for natural persons;
€100,000 to €1.2 million for companies.

Conditional fines that have already been ordered to be paid were imposed on natural persons, at between €20,000 and €100,000. The board does not name the parties.

Individuals are in scope

The most consequential line in the release is that a prohibition decision “can be issued to both a company and an individual”. The board says gambling is “typically illegally marketed on various social media platforms and in gaming and gambling livestreams” — the channels where streamers, influencers and affiliates, not operators, do the work.

The definition of marketing is deliberately wide: it covers advertising and other sales promotion, and “all activities aimed at increasing demand for gambling games”. Under the current Lotteries Act, only Veikkaus Oy may market gambling in mainland Finland.

How a conditional fine works

A conditional fine is not a punishment for past conduct. As Juhani Wallinvirta, Head of Group at the National Police Board, puts it, its purpose “is not to punish illegal activities, but to reinforce compliance with the prohibition decision and to ensure that illegal marketing actually ceases”. The amount reflects the scope and nature of the violation and the party’s ability to pay; it becomes payable only if the prohibition is not complied with within the deadline. The board uses it where marketing continues despite a warning and there are grounds to think the party will not otherwise comply.

Why now

Finland is in a transition. Under the new Gambling Act, betting and online casino open to licensed competition on 1 July 2027; operators have been able to apply since March 2026, and the police report dozens of applications. Until the switch, Veikkaus keeps the monopoly — and the board has been explicit that marketing by anyone else, even a future licensee, is illegal and will be intervened in. A licence decision issued early still does not allow marketing before July 2027.

What this means for you

For operators planning a Finnish launch, the exposure is in the partner chain rather than in their own ads. Affiliates and streamers promoting offshore brands to Finns today are, on the board’s own account, the typical target — and they can now be fined personally. If your brand appears in that marketing, whether placed by an affiliate you work with or by someone using your name without permission, it is your reputation attached to an illegal campaign in a market you are about to apply to enter.

Three practical steps before July 2027:

Map who markets your brand in Finland — affiliate sites, social accounts, livestreams, Telegram channels — including those you never authorised.
Instruct and document. Where a partner is acting for you, tell them in writing to stop Finnish-targeted promotion, and keep the record.
Take down what isn’t yours. Unauthorised use of your brand in illegal marketing is a trademark and impersonation problem you can act on now, rather than a regulator problem you inherit later.