The roles of the unit will include gathering intelligence and information related to suspicious betting and will work in liaison with local and foreign regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, betting monitoring systems, sporting bodies and gaming operators in order to investigate irregular and suspicious betting activity. 

MGA Senior Executive Antonio Zerafa as Sports Integrity Officer will represent the head of the unit. Mr Zerafa has been at the MGA for four years and has held various positions within the Criminal Probity Screening Department, as well as the Enforcement Directorate as Secretary to the MGA’s Fit and Proper Committee. 

“Having a dedicated Sports Integrity Unit is vital for the MGA’s statutory objective to ensure that gambling is free from crime, specifically the manipulation of sports competitions,” said Heathcliff Farrugia, MGA’s Chief Executive Officer.  

“The MGA is committing to cooperation with stakeholders to the extent permitted by law to act against a pervasive phenomenon that threatens the integrity of both the sports and the betting industries,” Mr Farrugia added. 

In addition, Mr Zerafa has a Degree in Criminology from the University of Malta where he is also a visiting lecturer, a Master’s Degree in Counter Fraud and Counter Corruption Studies from the University of Portsmouth, and is currently reading for a PhD in Law and Criminology with a focus on gaming-related crime at the Sheffield Hallam University.

The post MGA launches new sports integrity unit first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

In addition, the MGA is issuing the Commercial Communications Guidelines as part of the watchdog’s aim of placing player protection and responsible gaming on top of its regulatory agenda.

The authority believes that the guidelines can provide practical guidance to any person offering licensable games and to people who collaborate in any way or provide any service, including any marketing or promotional service.  

The guidelines will serve also as guidance on the interpretation of the regulations and should not be considered as a substitute for the relevant laws and regulations. 

In fact, they reflect the MGA’s intended effect of the regulations but neither constitute new rules nor bind the MGA or the committee on the manner in which they will decide upon any commercial communication complaint, the press release says.

The post MGA sets up commercial communication committee, adds guidelines first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The MGA focused on the regulatory compliance through the implementation of a number of innovative internal and external initiatives which improved overall governance and supervision of the gaming sector, the press statement says. At the same time, the authority says it continued to further strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting financing of terrorism (CFT) supervision to ensure effectiveness in the mitigation of ML/FT risks relating to gambling services.

In 2018, the MGA and the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) jointly issued the Remote Gaming Implementing Procedures – Part II document that was directed toward the remote gaming sector. Throughout the year, both authorities participated in cooperative initiatives to strengthen the oversight of the gaming sector, the press statement mentions one of the highlights of last year.

The MGA conducted a total of 33 AML/CFT full-scope examinations, eight of which were conducted jointly with the FIAU. The authority says it also placed a strong emphasis on effective enforcement. To this effect, the MGA has issued 16 Notices of Reprimand and 73 Notices of Breach, suspended four licences and cancelled another eight. In addition, a total of 139 administrative fines were imposed on operators following various regulatory breaches.

The MGA’s Fit & Proper Committee deemed 63 individuals or companies to be unsuitable for a licence, or for a significant role in a licensee, as the case may be, in 2018. In particular, 37 of these were related to individuals or companies considered as not having satisfied the integrity and reputation pillars of the MGA’s fit and proper criteria due to possible connections to money laundering or funding of terrorism, the authority says. Around 2,000 criminal probity screenings were conducted last year.

The authority also established the so-called Commercial Communications Committee as required in terms of the new regulatory framework, ensuring due process in the assessment of regulatory breaches stemming from the requirements relating to commercial communications. During the year, a total of 14 cases were evaluated, out of which seven decisions determined that there had been a breach of the regulations, the press statement says.

The MGA received 209 applications for a licence and issued 93 licences to gaming operators, with the remaining ones still going through the acceptance process. A total of eight licence applications were rejected during 2018, figures published in the annual report show.

The MGA continued its digitisation efforts over the course of 2018, including further updates to the Licensee Relationship Management System to cater for the submission of the Monthly Licence and Compliance Contribution Report. Additional functionalities will be added to the official website of the authority in 2019, the authority says.

Becoming a ‘knowledge-driven organisation’

Delivering on its vision to become an “increasingly knowledge-driven organisation”, the MGA says it conducted and published the results of two major surveys in 2018. The areas analysed by the MGA included the skills gap in the gaming industry and the threats and opportunities associated with the consumption of gambling and gaming services by Maltese residents, the press statement adds.

“2018 was a remarkable year for the Authority, predominantly because of the coming into force of the new law on the 1 August 2018. The new framework strengthened the MGA’s supervisory role, specifically in the areas of compliance and enforcement, enabling it to focus efforts on areas which present a higher risk profile,” Heathcliff Farrugia, Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Gaming Authority, said when publishing the report.

“The new regulatory regime has also been pivotal in ensuring the Authority could become more agile in its decision-making. Last year was also the year when Malta adopted the EU’s 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, which saw online gaming companies in Malta becoming obliged entities for the first time. This was challenging, both for licensees and the MGA, which together with the FIAU, started conducting onsite AML inspections,” the CEO added.

Looking into the anticipated progress this year, Mr Farrugia says that consolidation and the integrity of the market are crucial. “In 2019, the MGA’s focus will be that of consolidating what has been built so far, and continue building on its regulatory powers, to ensure holistic regulatory oversight focusing on the integrity of market participants and the protection of consumers, whilst also embracing technological innovation without prejudicing the attainment of its regulatory objectives,” the CEO concluded.

The Annual Report and Financial Statements for the financial year ending 31 December 2018 is available for public view at the official website of the Malta Gaming Authority.

The post MGA further strengthens regulatory oversight in 2018, says annual report first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Introducing a Unified Self-Exclusion System would be a significant step toward implementing further control for the prevention of gambling-related harm, the authority believes. The scope and high-level specifications of the system can be accessed via a recently published Preliminary Market Consultation (PMC) document.

The PMC document is accessible at the Maltese Government’s Electronic Public Procurement System (ePPS). All submissions are also to be sent through the ePPS. The closing date for this preliminary market consultation process is 31 May 2019.

“Responsible gaming is a key priority within the MGA’s regulatory policy development and framework,” the authority says in the press statement. The MGA underlines that they are committed to strengthening player protection.

The post Malta Gaming Authority launches preliminary market consultation first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The MoU aims to facilitate ongoing communications between the two bodies, as well as to support the effective sharing of information. The two watchdogs also agreed to provide operational assistance to each other continuously, related to their respective procedures and regulatory policies.

“Many of the companies that have received a Swedish license also have technical equipment and a license in Malta. By opening the communication channels between the authorities, we become stronger in our supervisory activities. This is the beginning of broad and long-term cooperation, and our plan is to initiate corresponding collaborations with more gambling authorities in Europe,” says Camilla Rosenberg, Director General of the Swedish Gambling Authority.

“The MGA is always actively seeking to foster relationships with fellow authorities and other international regulatory bodies as we firmly believe that such relationships are key to reaching our objectives, especially in the area of remote gaming which is fundamentally cross-border in nature,” says Heathcliff Farrugia, Chief Executive Officer of MGA.

“This MoU, signed with the Swedish Gambling Authority, is an important step towards achieving both our respective regulatory goals in vital areas of mutual interest, especially since the MGA and the Swedish Gambling Authority share a significant number of operators licensed by both regulators. We are eager to start this mutually beneficial journey with our Swedish counterpart,” the MGA chief adds.

The post MGA signs MoU with Swedish counterpart first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Under the decision of the authority, World Services Ltd was directed “to proceed with the cancellation process of the authorisation, and to suspend all gaming operations with immediate effect.” At the same time, a notice on the companies website(s) must be displayed informing all players that the authorisation has been cancelled.

The MGA also “notifies that any websites operated by World Services Ltd or associated with World Services Ltd, and which make reference to the authority or the above-quoted licence is not approved to be operational by the authority. Due to the cancellation of the licence, World Services Ltd is therefore not authorised to continue conducting gaming by means of distance communications under an authority licence.”

The post MGA cancels World Services Ltd licence first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Under the decision of the authority, World-of-bets.eu Ltd was directed “to proceed with the cancellation process of the authorisation, and to suspend all gaming operations with immediate effect.” At the same time, a notice on the companies website(s) must be displayed informing all players that the authorisation has been cancelled.

The MGA also “notifies that any websites operated by World-of-bets.eu Ltd or associated with World-of-bets.eu Ltd, and which make reference to the authority or the above-quoted licence is not approved to be operational by the authority. Due to the cancellation of the licence, World-of-bets.eu Ltd is therefore not authorised to continue conducting gaming by means of distance communications under an authority licence.”

The post MGA cancels World-of-bets.eu licence first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Under the decision of the authority, Bet Service Group Ltd was directed “to proceed with the cancellation process of the authorisation, and to suspend all gaming operations with immediate effect.” At the same time, a notice on the companies website(s) must be displayed informing all players that the authorisation has been cancelled.

The MGA also “notifies that any websites operated by Bet Service Group Ltd or associated with Bet Service Group Ltd, and which make reference to the authority or the above-quoted licence is not approved to be operational by the authority. Due to the cancellation of the licence, Bet Service Group Ltd is therefore not authorised to continue conducting gaming by means of distance communications under an authority licence.”

The MGA suspended the gaming licence of the group as of 23 January 2019, as Business Malta reported.

The post MGA cancels Bet Service Group licence first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“As from this year, the success of [Malta Information Technology Agency] MITA’s Student Placement Programme will be replicated in the gaming and financial services sector,” Mr Schembri said on Monday when launching the 11th edition of MITA’s Student Placement Programme.

Mr Schembri tagged the last 11 years of MITA’s Student Placement Programme as a bridge for students to implement their studies in a working environment. “We are aware of circumstances where students’ get the necessary results but lack in experience, and this is what the programme has successfully addressed over the years,” the parliamentary secretary said. He added that such programmes help add practical knowledge to the students’ skill set, helping them in preparing for the future’s labour market.

He urged all employers from the private sector, public service and NGOs to participate in the programme and become an active part of this exciting journey which is providing our youth with unique hands-on experience, all the while developing tomorrow’s future workforce, the DOI press statement reported.

In the last five years, MITA and employer partners were able to offer over 1,600 placements, which translates to an investment of over €2.6m providing students with this positive experience.

Applications for students and employers who wish to participate in the Student Placement Programme are open till 29 March, the DOI statement says.

The post Student placement programme to go live in iGaming and finance first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Under the decision of the authority, Morpheus Games was directed “to indefinitely suspend all gaming operations, cease to register new players or accept any deposits on the Licence and to submit all data and documentation” requested by the MGA.

Due to the suspension of the licence, Morpheus Games is not authorised to continue conducting gaming employing distance communications under a permit by MGA.

“The authority notifies that no further information shall be released at this stage in order not to compromise any investigations that may need to be performed by the authority and any other competent authority,” the MGA statement notes.

The post MGA suspends Morpheus Games licence first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.