The Malta Gaming Authority issued €2.43 million in financial penalties between January and June last year, as part of an effort to ramp up enforcement in the sector and tackle unlicensed gaming operators.
The figure was presented during a press conference at the authority’s premises in SmartCity, Kalkara, in which the MGA presented its interim report for the first six months of 2020.
During this period, the gaming regulator issued 11 warnings, 20 notices of breach and sanctions and nine administrative fines. It also suspended two licenses and cancelled seven.
Presenting the report, the authority’s CFO Peter Spiteri said the authority had signed an updated memorandum of understanding with the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit to better combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the gaming sector.
In the first six months of the year, Spiteri said that the authority organised webinars for operators to address frequent shortcoming in AML processes.
During this time, the MGA received 40 international co-operation requests and sent 25 of its own, covering the areas of sports integrity, criminal activity by players, adverse media reports as well as unlicensed operators. The authority also carried out 833 criminal probity screening tests.
The Player Support Unit saw an increase of 38 per cent in support requests, with the isolation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting players and increasing the number of requests for support. The unit received 2,431 queries and resolved 2,433, including a few which had been received in the previous year.
Despite the abnormal market conditions brought about by pandemic, the authority received 24 gaming license requests and issued 40, including a number that had been received during the previous year.
Speaking at the press conference, Economy Minister Silvio Schembri said that despite the difficult circumstances imposed by the pandemic, the industry had proven to be resilient and worked to find new avenues to expand.
“This was a difficult year for everyone, the gaming sector as we know it had to change particularly with the suspension of football games and other sports,” he said.
“Despite the challenges, industries we had already begun investing in such as virtual gaming and e-sports came to the fore and the work we put into developing these industries has started to bear fruit.”
The minister added that the government was committed to strengthening the authority to continue to combat crime and illicit activities.
“Having a strict regulator doesn’t necessarily mean choking the industry. The more the regulator shows it is serious, the more our country attracts established businesses to obtain licenses and launch operations here,” Schembri said.