Malta Gaming Authority

What this authority does

Malta began licensing remote gambling in 2001 through the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, which was renamed the Malta Gaming Authority in 2015. The Gaming Act 2018 replaced a set of separate class licences with two broad categories: a B2C gaming service licence for operators facing the player, and a B2B critical gaming supply licence for the companies that provide the games and the platform behind them.

Within the B2C licence, activity is sorted into four types. Type 1 covers games of chance played against the house, which in practice means slots, roulette and other table games. Type 2 covers fixed-odds betting. Type 3 covers games where the operator takes a commission rather than a position, such as poker and betting exchanges. Type 4 covers controlled skill games. One licence can carry several types.

Malta's position in the industry is as much commercial as regulatory. A long-standing gaming cluster, EU membership, English-language administration and a tax structure built for the sector meant that companies which needed a European licence tended to choose Malta, and the concentration of suppliers there is the reason an MGA licence is still treated as a reference point by operators in markets that have no licensing of their own.

Licences it issues

• B2C gaming service licence (Types 1-4)
• B2B critical gaming supply licence
• Material gaming supply recognition

What supervision concentrates on

• Licensing of operators and suppliers
• Player funds segregation
• Game and platform certification
• Key function holder approval

Markets on file under this authority