Malta Gaming Authority defends compliance standard after UKGC criticism

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has defended its regulatory standards following criticism of Malta-licensed firms from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) this week.

UKGC CEO Neil McArthur said at a conference on Wednesday the regulator had had issues with a disproportionally high number of Malta firms and compliance efforts by Maltese firms was “not good enough”.

However, in a statement provided to EGR, the MGA defended its record, and said the past few years had seen a “significant increase in stringent regulations” and that compliance expectations from regulators were “very high”.

“The concentration of gambling business based in Malta and operating in other jurisdictions invariably leads to a high proportion of Maltese companies that attract the attention of the foreign regulators,” an MGA spokesperson said.

“Whilst a number of operators have been able to raise the bar, others are struggling to meet expectations, and this is a concern shared by the Gambling Commission as well as the MGA and the FIAU.

The MGA highlighted the role of regulators in setting out expectations to the industry, citing its own participation in the same conference.

In its own session, the MGA discussed the collection of source of funds information with attendees.

In his initial speech, McArthur highlighted a recent thematic report conducted by the UKGC, which showed a total of 24 Maltese firms had been required to implement so-called action plans to address identified issues of non-compliance.

Several of these firms later received financial penalties, with three later surrendering their UK licences.