Gambling License Malta: The Malta Remote Gaming Regulations: Lotteries & Gaming Authority (LGA)

Over the past years Malta has successfully established itself as a serious and well-regulated European jurisdiction attracting on-line gaming companies. The Government of Malta carried out a complete revision and consolidation of the gaming legislation, and a new all-encompassing gaming law was enacted by the Maltese Parliament in virtue of which the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has been set up.

The Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority has revised the regulations whereby Gaming activities including online casinos, casino-style games, online poker, betting exchanges and lotteries could be allowed after an application is submitted and a licence is granted.

Remote Gaming was originally introduced in Malta under the Department of the Public Lotto Act in 2000 which then only permitted licensing of Betting activities. The then Regulations for Offshore Betting Offices attracted more than 60 companies between 2000 and 2004, and during this period 42 companies operated successfully.

The Malta Remote Gaming Regulations came into force on the 20th April 2004. The new Regulations are established under the main Act as Other Games by Means of Distance Communication, this means that:

the gaming principles are the same as those of the principal act that requires parliament intervention to change;
the regulations are under the control of the Authority and can be changed by way of a simple legal notice.

New Regulations - New Concepts

Technology Neutral – Apply to all types of technologies (internet, mobile, telephone, fax and game devices).
Game Neutral – Apply to all types of games (Betting, P2P, Online Casino, Community Games, Leagues, etc..)
Future Proof (as much as practicable).
Shift from regulating games to regulating the means of carrying out gaming.
Establishes a safe environment for players.
Gives operators a competitive edge.

Key Official Requirement and Support

A Key Official would need to be appointed within 21 days from issue of the LOI.

Following find a list of responsibilities that need to be adhered to by the Companies' Key Official (KO):

System review / Certification of compliance.
Sealing of Servers and also responsible to make sure seals are not broken, and if so must be reported to the LGA and re-sealed.
Incident reports - the LGA is to be advised in respect of any changes made to either the hardware or software of the company, by signing and submitting the Incident reports.
Keeping the LGA updated in respect of any changes to be made, to the set-up approved by LGA.
Submission of monthly gaming tax and annual gaming license fee.
Submission of the Company's Accounts / Audit.
Ensuring players' funds are adequately held by the Company at all times.
Data Protection.
NSO - National Statistics.
KO is to have access to the back-end system.

Further, the Key Official together with the Management of the Company needs to ensure that the Company is operating in line with the following Malta regulations:

Companies Act, 1995
Data Protection Act, 2001
Electronic Commerce Act, 2001
Electronic Communications (Regulation) Act, 1997
Income Tax Act, 1948
Income Tax Management Act, 1994
Lotteries and other games Act, 2001 as amended (Remote Gaming Regulations)
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 1994

The LGA has a staff compliment of over 40 personnel, all with the necessary background in the different areas of gaming. The officers directly involved in Remote Gaming are involved in the following functions: Application Processing, Involvement Verification, Regulatory Supervision, Financial & Accounting, Information Management, Legal & Enforcement, Inspections and Marketing.