Vision Malta:  Be the 'Silicon Valley' of I-Gaming
Feb2016

Vision Malta: Be the 'Silicon Valley' of I-Gaming

11 February 2016
Benefitting from the next generation of Gaming Regulations

In 2016 a general regulatory overhaul is planned to take shape with the development of a new Gaming Act, creating a coherent governance and regulatory framework for all forms of gaming licensed in Malta.

More coherence and performance of both the industry and the jurisdiction are the main aims to be achieved by the new legislation. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) expressed a number of priorities for the new framework:

  • Widening the scope of competence of the regulatory framework and the MGA itself to keep under review or, if considered necessary, even regulate any gaming activity warranting MGA’s intervention due to risks that this activity may pose to players and society
  • Streamlining licensing structures and simplifying pre- and post-licensing processes, thus eliminating any duplication of checks
  • Guaranteeing game and technology neutrality
  • Potentially proposing a set of principles and a policy on outsourcing in remote gaming

The draft legislation has been just completed. In the running year MGA intends to reach out to the industry to gain their opinions on suggested changes, before entering the legislative process for the new framework’s enactment by the Maltese Parliament.

Encouraging key trends for Malta

MGA Executive Chairman Joseph Cuschieri expressed his thoughts in an interview in GAMINGMALTA, underlining that MGA is encouraged by a number of key trends:

  • The continued growth of the Malta-based gaming industry. In the full year 2015 MGA has issued some 87 new licenses, taking the total number to currently over 510 remote gaming licences.
  • The highest and fastest growth rates are seen in markets outside Europe, namely in Asia and South America, and in non-traditional gambling segments, MGA being strategically working to attract a share of this market.
  • The introduction of the new Gaming Act as a regulation for innovation with the potential to become a role model for others.
  • The growing importance of start-ups for the industry, MGA seeking to strengthen the environment for these newcomers with the vision for Malta to be the “Silicon Valley” of I-Gaming.