Finland’s state-owned gambling operator Veikkaus has revealed plans to expand into international markets as it prepares for competition in online gambling after losing its...
Finland’s President ratifies new gambling act
On January 16, 2026, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb formally signed the new Gambling Act, which was passed in Parliament on December 16, 2025.
A two-track system will be introduced, with a competitive licensing market for online products and state control of lotteries and land-based casinos. Online gambling, betting, and betting-related activities will be covered by the reforms, with additional supervision and consumer protection measures aligned with the standards of other European countries.
Starting on March 1, 2026, companies will be able to apply for licenses with the National Police Board, and on July 1, 2027, the market will officially go live, with the Finnish Supervisory Agency taking over licensing responsibilities. Lastly, to further tighten the B2B layer, from July 1, 2028, operators will only be allowed to use gambling software from licensed Finnish gambling software suppliers.
The reformed Gambling Act will keep the gambling age limit at 18 but will implement strong identification processes to check a player’s age. The country will require players to set daily and monthly spending limits, and is also planning to introduce a centralized self-exclusion system.
The government stated that the goal of the reforms is to reduce and prevent gambling harm and boost channelization so that betting will remain inside the regulated market instead of going to illegal offshore platforms.
Finland has officially opened applications for online gambling licenses as the country is moving to end the monopoly of the state-controlled Veikkaus and launch the regulated...
