Hippos ATG says it holds a Finnish licence, but the regulator has not confirmed any decisions
Hippos ATG, a joint venture of Sweden's ATG and Suomen Hippos, announced on 19 October 2026 that it holds a five year Finnish gambling licence. It is the second firm to say so after Wildz Group, but Finland's National Police Board has not published any licence decisions.
Finland is moving from a state monopoly to a licensed market on 1 July 2027, and the Finnish case shows how a regulator can channel players away from offshore sites. South African readers can use it as a comparison point for what a licensing system looks like when it exists, and for how cautious to be about licence claims that rest on a company's own announcement rather than a public register.
What happened
Hippos ATG Oy, a Helsinki-based joint venture between Swedish horse racing operator ATG and the Finnish trotting association Suomen Hippos, said on 19 October 2026 that it has been granted a gambling licence under Finland's new Gambling Act.
It is the second company to make such an announcement. Malta-based Wildz Group said on 15 October that it had been cleared to offer gambling for five years from 1 July 2027.
The detail
European Gaming reports that the licence covers horse betting, sports betting and online casino games. iGaming Business reports a five year term, based on an image of the licence shared on social media. The two outlets differ on how the term was evidenced, so we treat the five years as reported rather than confirmed.
Finland's National Police Board is the licensing authority until the end of June 2027. It has not published decisions on individual applications, so both announcements rest on the companies' own disclosures. The board had received 75 applications by 22 September, according to European Gaming.
Holding a licence does not allow an operator to go live. Operators can only start offering and marketing gambling from 1 July 2027, and only after completing required audits and connecting to the authority's supervision system. Veikkaus keeps exclusive rights to lotteries, scratch cards, physical slot machines and land-based casino games.
Why the wording matters
Hippos ATG chief compliance officer Antti Koivula has warned that the market will open on an uneven footing, because Veikkaus and offshore operators already active in Finland hold customer databases that new entrants lack, iGaming Business notes. The regulator's silence on decisions means outsiders cannot yet check which firms are licensed.
What it means for South African players
The lesson for South African players is simple. A licence claim is only as strong as the register behind it. When you look at an offshore casino, check the licensing body's own public record, and read our casino methodology to see how we treat licence information. Where we have not sourced a licence, our pages say "not yet verified".
Finland has no bearing on South African law, which still has no licence for remote casino games.
What to watch next
Watch for the National Police Board publishing its decisions, for more operators announcing licences, and for the handover to the Finnish Supervisory Agency on 1 July 2027.