The same can be said for Malta.
Here's an interesting article on that jurisdiction:
Malta Lotteries And Gaming Authority: the non-regulating regulator
Written by Caruso on July 4, 2008
The Malta Lotteries And Gaming Authority is the governmental body whose job it is to oversee and regulate all gambling operations located in Malta. The 2004 Remote Gaming Regulations represents the governing legislation, and it includes the following encouraging clause:
The Authority may order the suspension or cancellation of a license if…the license holder has failed to meet commitments to players.
This is important, because the ultimate purpose of any gambling regulatory organization is to ensure protection of its licensees’ customers, the players.
On the face of it, this appears to be a pretty serious organisation; it’s a governmental body, and one located within the European Union as opposed to some Caribbean or Costa Rican outpost; it’s got a snappy website whose contacts page lists an email address for player complaints; the LGA also moves on the international circuit: they attended the 2008 International Casino Exhibition in London this year, and will be attending the European iGaming Congress and Expo in Barcelona in a few months. It’s fair to say that the LGA folk don’t exactly hide away behind closed doors.
So, does the LGA ensure that its licensees “meet commitments to players”?
No.
In fact, the Malta Lotteries And Gaming Authority appears to do nothing whatsoever for the players.
As reported in the Malta Independent Online “Gamer demands £66,000 payout” report, and discussed in reasonable detail at the Winneronline forum, in late 2005 a player racked up £66,000 of winnings at Malta-based operation “Bingos”, which the casino subsequently refused to pay, citing “software error”. The LGA initiated an investigation, and along the way reported that there was no software error. Beyond that, they made no ruling; rather extraordinarily, they told the player to take legal action against the operator in Malta, and apparently offered some guidance with this task.
Before the matter came to trial, and after the player had spent a lot in legal fees, the casino in question offered a payment settlement which the player accepted. This would almost certainly have come with a non-disclosure agreement, as the player made no further comment and the exact final details were never reported.
Why did the player have travel to Malta and take expensive legal action? And why did the LGA advise him to do this while they were still “investigating”? A regulator’s job is to investigate a case and rule on it, not encourage the complainant to sort it out himself at his own expense while their investigation is ongoing.
This is not regulation, this is passing the buck – and it’s grossly unprofessional and unacceptable. The LGA has at its disposal the right to suspend or revoke licenses “if the license holder has failed to meet commitments to players”. They have absolute power in this regard. Yet, they prefer to let the player divest them of their responsibilities and do nothing of value.
All that said, at least in the above case the LGA appeared active to a degree. More recently, even this has been almost totally absent.
Also here is a response from a rep here while I was requesting information on locating regulations:
Hi Carl,
i am not sure i really understand what you want.
If you want any response from the Malta Gaming Authority you should show up there in person with a drawn weapon.
They invented bureaucracy!
We will soon switch to a place where we could get an answer by just making a phone call.
__________________
to admit that they stooped that low.....IMO.
