Malta Gaming Authority Pares Back Plans to Tighten Foreign Licence Recognition Rules
After industry pushback, the MGA has dropped several proposed changes to its Recognition Notice framework. Some of the original requirements may also need legislative amendments that the regulator cannot make on its own.
GamblingSource: GamblingNews
The Malta Gaming Authority has abandoned several of the amendments it proposed for the Recognition Notice framework, following pushback from the industry, according to a report cited by GamblingNews. The shift raises questions about how far the regulator can go without changes to the underlying legislation.
Recognition Notices allow gambling companies based in Malta to operate under licences issued by regulators in other EU and EEA countries, as well as certain other jurisdictions considered to have broadly equivalent anti-money laundering standards. The arrangement covers both business-to-consumer operators and business-to-business suppliers, and spares them from obtaining a separate MGA licence.
The system has drawn scrutiny over concerns that some companies may be working with insufficient oversight. One point of contention was that certain firms might operate under foreign licences without informing the MGA. There were also worries that some operators benefit from weaker anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls in the jurisdictions that issued their licences.
The MGA launched a consultation in April as part of the island's National AML/CFT Strategy for 2024 to 2026. Its original proposals included wider corporate disclosures, more detailed financial information and a standardised legal opinion for foreign licence applications. The regulator has acknowledged that some of these requirements may not be possible without amending the existing framework, meaning that the revised regime would depend on the Maltese government's willingness to change the legislation.
The context is Malta's effort to improve its international image. The country was placed on the Financial Action Task Force grey list in 2021 and removed the following year, but it is still working to repair its reputation.
The MGA says its final approach will clearly distinguish between B2B and B2C businesses and rely on targeted, risk-based information gathering. It maintains that the changes will strengthen oversight without placing unnecessary obligations on companies already supervised by foreign regulators. The authority will still consult foreign licence holders and collect further suggestions, but the planned reforms now appear to have lost much of their original scope. Despite the setback, the regulator intends to begin collecting information this year, focusing on B2C Recognition Notice holders for the 2025 reporting period.
Based on reporting by GamblingNews.