MGA promotes new CEO from within

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has hired Dr Carl Brincat as its new CEO to replace former long-standing boss Heathcliff Farrugia. Brincat currently serves as the MGA’s chief legal and enforcement officer and has led the authority’s enforcement efforts since October 2019. A lawyer by profession, he joined the authority in September 2014 as a legal adviser before rising to the post of deputy legal counsel in 2017. Brincat was later promoted to chief legal counsel in January 2019, spending 10 months in the post before stepping up to head the MGA’s legal and enforcement division. In addition, Brincat has been involved in the development of the strategic direction of the regulator and its committees for the past four years. Brincat sits on the board of the MGA’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit and is a member of the Chamber of Advocates (Malta), the International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL) and the International Association of Gambling Regulators (IAGR). Brincat replaces Farrugia, who announced he would be stepping down in November 2020, along with MGA chief regulatory officer Dr Karl Brincat Peplow, whose replacement has yet to be appointed. Brincat’s promotion follows a highly competitive selection process which began with the launch of a public call for applications in December 2020. “It is an honour to be selected to lead the organisation at such a critical juncture for the MGA and the industry alike,” Brincat said. “I am proud of the work that has been done by the authority so far in raising regulatory standards and committed to ensuring that we continue along this path. “However, it is essential that we cultivate stronger partnerships with other regulators and stakeholders, and the industry itself, to achieve a regulatory environment that accomplishes the MGA’s objectives as set out in the law in the most effective, transparent, and proportionate manner,” Brincat concluded.