Malta Gaming Authority Archives

September 6, 2023

Malta regulator cancels Tipster’s licences

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has cancelled Tipster Limited’s licences in the country after the business was recently wound up.

The regulator in July suspended Tipster in response to the winding up order and is now proceeding with full cancellation. This, the MGA, said was the most “appropriate” measure.

Tipster must now notify all players of the cancellation and settle outstanding fees with the regulator. The sports betting operator is also ordered to remove any reference to MGA licensing from its websites.

All licence cancellations and suspensions in Malta are open to appeal.

Tipster faces insolvency proceedings

The licence suspension and subsequent cancellation come after insolvency proceedings were launched against Tipster in June. Dr Jörg Gollnick was appointed as its provisional insolvency administrator.

Gollnick is also the provisional insolvency administrator for Tipster Service GmbH, part of the Tipster group. At the time, Gollnick said the restructuring hinges on the..

June 21, 2023

Malta regulator cancels MKC Limited’s licence

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has cancelled MKC Limited’s licence after ruling that it breached a number of regulations.

Malta-based MKC had been operating the Betworld247 sports betting and casino site under its B2C gaming service licence. However, the regulatory decision means that it is no longer authorised to offer online gambling via this licence.

Setting out its decision, the MGA said MKC breached regulations 9(1)(c), (d), (i), (l) and 10(1)(a) of the Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations.

Specific breaches included not making required licensing payments to the MGA and failure to meet other financial commitments related to its operations.

The regulator also flagged how MKC failed to meet commitments to customers in a timely manner but did not go into further detail.

“One of the grounds for suspension envisaged in regulation 9 arises and the Authority, in its sole discretion, determines that cancellation of the authorisation is the most appropriate measure,” the MG..

March 9, 2023

MGA pens data deal with Badminton World Federation

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has announced it has signed a data-sharing agreement with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Integrity Unit.

The deal will see the two organisations work to improve the monitoring of suspicious gambling activity in badminton.

MGA head of financial crime compliance Antonio Zerafa said he was “very pleased” to see BWF added to the list of sports governing bodies whom the regulator is already engaged with on a day-to-day basis.

“I am very pleased to see the Badminton World Federation added to the long list of sports governing bodies whom the Authority already assists on a practical level, and we look forward to working with the BWF’s Integrity Unit on any issues that may arise,” he said.

Thomas Lund, BWF secretary-general said that this partnership will support BWF in its mission of identifying possible instances of match-fixing, and will improve its capabilities in its investigations and anti-match fixing operations.

“This partnership helps the BW..

January 11, 2023

Number of players on Malta-licensed sites hits record high in H1 2022

The number of players gambling with Malta-licensed operators hit a new high in the first half of 2022, after declines in the previous year.

The number of active player accounts with Malta-licensed operators rose by 8.7% year-on-year after a decline in 2021, to 19.3 million. This exceeded the previous high of 19.0 million recorded in the last six months of 2020.

The rise was mostly due to a record 8.9 million new accounts being created.

Much of the rise was due to higher numbers of younger players, with the portion of players aged between 18 and 24 rising to almost 25% of the total player base. In addition, the Malta gaming sector was found to have contributed €573m in gross value added for the half-year, or 8.0% of the Maltese economy. The gross value added total was up 12.4% from the first half of 2021.

The sector also employed 10,861 people as of June 2022, almost 600 more than a year earlier.

“The resilience of the Malta gaming industry during these trying times is largely att..

November 14, 2022

“No connection” between MGA and subjects of mafia investigation, regulator says

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has said that recent preliminary investigations into mafia associations with Malta-based gambling have found no links between the MGA and suspected individuals.

Reports in the media said the Italian authorities had contacted the MGA regarding how the mafia had been using websites owned by Maltese operators to offer unlicensed and illegal gambling.

A report published in the Times of Malta last November said individuals illegally collected money for bets in Italy using sites belonging to Maltese companies operating without a licence issued by the Italian authorities. This, it claimed, helped them to launder money from other illegal activities.

A follow-up then said that preliminary investigations had concluded last week and that a total of 34 individuals had been identified.

However, the MGA said that it had been established that there were no links between itself and those that had carried out the reported illegal activity.

“The MGA refers to repor..

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Tag: Malta Gaming Authority