MALTA Law and Practice Contributed by: Andrew J. Zammit and Krista Hili, GVZH Advocates
that require government concessions, such as for the operation of land-based casinos and the island’s national lottery, would be granted for ten years or such shorter period for which the concession is valid. Where a gaming service or a gaming supply is by its very nature temporary, consisting of a singular event or a number of game instances linked to the same event, such service or supply shall be eligible to apply for a limited duration licence. 4.5 Duration of Licences Licences can only be purchased by entities that form Application requirements are similar in scope for remote and land-based operators. Prospective licen- sees must demonstrate that they are financially sound and capable of meeting the MGA’s requirements, and that they will comply with the applicable legislation. In this respect, all directors and persons performing key roles in the gaming company must be vetted by the MGA to ensure that they are fit and proper, based on a detailed disclosure set out in a prescribed form (personal declaration form), which must be submitted through the MGA’s portal together with all support- ing documentation. Direct and indirect shareholders holding more than 10% in the applicant company are subject to the same strict vetting process. The MGA issued the Directive on Start-Up Under- takings such that any undertaking that qualifies as a start-up would be subject to less stringent compliance obligations for a certain amount of time. The qualifi- cations to be deemed a start-up have recently been amended as per Legal Notice 266 of 2019, wherein an undertaking must not have generated more than EUR10 million of revenue in the 36 months prior to the application. These amendments came into effect on 1 January 2020. 4.7 Application Timing Although no timeframes are officially issued by the MGA, a new remote gaming licence application review generally takes between three and six months from the date of submission. There are five applica- tion stages wherein the MGA will assess whether part of the same corporate group. 4.6 Application Requirements
the applicant and its key function holders are fit and proper to conduct gaming business in accordance with Maltese laws and regulations, whether the appli- cant is sufficiently organised and prepared to under- take its proposed business strategy, and whether the applicant satisfies all key operational and statutory requirements. The MGA will also consider whether the applicant has correctly implemented its technical infrastructure in accordance with its approved busi- ness plan and systems documentation. The five appli- cation stages are as follows. • A fit-and-proper assessment of the applicant, conducted by assessing all information related to persons involved in financing and management, and on the business viability of the operation. • Business planning ‒ an in-depth financial analysis of the applicant’s business plan is conducted by the MGA. • Operational and statutory requirements ‒ the applicant is examined regarding the instruments required to conduct the business, including incor- poration documents; the games; and the rules, terms, conditions, policies and technical documen- tation of the gaming and control system. Appli- cants must also meet the established minimum issued and paid-up share capital requirements. • System review – the MGA informs the applicant of the outcome of the application. Should the appli- cation be successful, the applicant will be invited to implement the operation in a technical envi- ronment, in preparation to go live. A 60-day time limit is allowed for this technical roll-out. Once the process of certification is completed successfully, the Authority will issue a ten-year licence. • Compliance review ‒ after going live, a licensee must undergo compliance audits of its operations, which must be completed by an approved service provider within 90 days of the MGA’s notice. In May 2025, the MGA issues a regulatory update announcing some changes to the system audit, system review and compliance audit procedures to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of these pro- cesses.
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