The Gambling Administration at Finland’s National Police Board said on 14.10.2026 that it has issued more prohibition decisions and conditional fines for illegal gambling marketing this year than in earlier years (National Police Board release).
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So far in 2026 the Board has issued four prohibition decisions and imposed six conditional fines. The decisions concerned marketing on websites and social media. The release also names gaming and gambling livestreams as a typical channel for illegal marketing (release).
The conditional fines attached to the bans ranged from EUR 30,000 to EUR 200,000 for natural persons and from EUR 100,000 to EUR 1.2 million for companies. Where a ban was ignored, the Board has ordered conditional fines of EUR 20,000 to EUR 100,000 to be paid, so far only by natural persons (release; iGaming Business).
According to the Board, the size of a conditional fine depends on the scope and nature of the violation and on the ability of the party to pay. A conditional fine is used when marketing continues after a warning and there are grounds to assume that the party will not otherwise comply.
What counts as marketing
The Board reads the term broadly. Its definition covers advertising and other sales promotion activities, and “all activities aimed at increasing demand for gambling games” (release). In my reading, bonus presentations, links and influencer content can fall inside that definition.
The legal basis today
Under the current Lotteries Act (Arpajaislaki 1047/2001, §62), in the Ministry of the Interior’s wording, Veikkaus may market itself and its low risk games. Other operators cannot market gambling to mainland Finland at all. Enforcement was tightened by Act 1284/2021, in force from 1.1.2022, which amended §62 a to c and added §62 d to n, including the penalty payment in §62 d. The penalty payment is imposed by the Market Court on the Board’s proposal (§62 h). The payment rules in §62 l to 62 n apply from 1.1.2023.
The marketing rules of the new Gambling Act (Rahapelilaki 10/2026, §51 to §56) apply only from 1.7.2027, when the licensed market opens (Police: Marketing of gambling). Until then the current Act applies.
Gloria’s reading: the licence angle
This part is my reading, Gloria Kesa of FinEst Verba. Marketing to Finns before holding a licence can put an operator’s own licence application at risk. Under Rahapelilaki §10(2)(8), an applicant cannot be considered reliable if, within the two years before the assessment and after 1.9.2024, it received a prohibition decision or a penalty payment for organising or marketing gambling in breach of the Lotteries Act. The Board had received 75 licence applications by 22.9.2026 and had not yet decided any of them (Yle, 23.9.2026). A ban issued this year will sit on the record while those applications are assessed.
For operators planning a Finnish licence, the practical step is to audit current Finnish facing content now, including partner and influencer material, against the current Act.
Regulatory ready, so your legal or compliance team only has to sign off.
Free one-page compliance check (Finnish section 51, MiCA for Estonia, US state rules): gloria@finestverba.com
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Compliance content, SEO and legal translation for regulated markets. Finnish, Estonian, English, German, Dutch and Russian. Translating since 2005, legal translation since 2010, terms of service and privacy policy translation for iGaming, crypto and trading platforms since 2017. Founder of FinEst Verba.
Drafting, translation and written analysis. Not legal advice, and no compliance sign-off is offered.
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