Finland tightens enforcement against unlicensed gambling ads as fines reach $1.34 million

Finland’s National Police Board has stepped up action against illegal gambling promotion, issuing prohibition orders and conditional fines to companies and individuals marketing unauthorized services on the mainland. For PSPs and acquiring teams, the point is simple: the enforcement focus is shifting from the operators themselves to the distribution channels that keep traffic and deposits flowing.

1. By mid-2026, the authority had issued four formal prohibition orders and six conditional fines for breaches of the Lotteries Act. The measures targeted promotions run on websites, social media, and live-streaming platforms — exactly the places where Finnish consumers are actually seeing gambling offers.
2. The conditional fines are not small paperwork penalties. For individuals, they range from $33,576 to $223,840. For companies, they range from $111,920 to $1.34 million. When recipients ignored the prohibition orders, authorities collected fines from individuals ranging from $22,384 to $111,920.
3. Juhani Wallinvirta, group head at the National Police Board, said the conditional fine can be necessary to achieve an immediate and effective end to illegal marketing. He added that the purpose is not punishment for its own sake, but to force compliance and make the unlawful business stop.
4. The legal definition of gambling marketing in Finland is broad. It covers advertising and other sales-promotion activity aimed at increasing demand. The Police Board says illegal marketing has grown notably on digital platforms, with influencers and operators using social media and live game streams to steer consumers toward foreign services or other unauthorized sites.
5. A spring survey found that payment blocking for unlicensed betting sites was seen as the single most effective tool against illegal gambling among residents of Finland. The same study also asked whether foreign offers pull players away from Veikkaus, the licensed national platform.

Finland still runs a strictly regulated gambling market through a state monopoly. Veikkaus Oy is the only company authorized to market gambling on the mainland, which is exactly why ad compliance, payment flows, and distribution channels are all getting closer scrutiny at the same time.