Malta and the MGA in the News — Weekly Round-up for August 04, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Sep 20, 2017

Maltese Prime Minister Attends New Stars Group Office Opening

Spinola Bay offices accommodate Stars employees from over 30 countries

The newly re-branded The Stars Group (formerly Amaya Inc.) hosted the Prime Minister of Malta, The Honourable Joseph Muscat Friday when he opened the group’s new Spinola Bay offices, now home to employees from over 30 nations.

The Stars Group’s current workforce in Malta stands at around 270 staff, having grown from just a handful of employees in 2012, and the new office space can accommodate significantly more in anticipation of future growth.

Staff work across a variety of departments servicing Stars brands, including business development, marketing, human resources and IT, and the company says it is still recruiting for some 30 more employees.

The new office features a games room, a large terraced area, and a creative space for brainstorming. The building complex is due for full completion by the end of the year and will see a host of new communal facilities available for staff, including a food court, gym, supermarket and children’s crèche.

Prime Minister Muscat said:

“The last decade has seen Malta emerge as a global igaming destination. It’s a great honour to host a global brand such as The Stars Group, which has had stellar success. The Stars Group employs Maltese residents and expats, and the further growth of the company with the new office will complement economic growth here in Malta. Malta is a prime jurisdiction for igaming and we will continue to be vigilant with growing trends, provide education to fit, and keep in close contact with stakeholders.”

Rafi Ashkenazi, CEO of The Stars Group, said: “Malta provided a warm welcome to us in 2012 and we’re proud to renew our commitment as we look to welcome new recruits into The Stars Group family here in Malta.”

Gig Expands Malta Offices To Accommodate Growth

@GiG Beach and @GiG Sky new office space to be filled over the next year

Having reached a staff complement of over 350 on Malta alone and 450 in total, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has outgrown its yet to be occupied office space @GIG Beach and will expand into a third building, @GIG Sky, during September 2018.

The premises @GiG Sky will offer the company an additional 3,200 SQM of space along with interconnected residential apartments which will be used to house visiting team members, relocating employees or business acquaintances.

The company is scheduled to relocate its GiG Central (HR, Comms, Finance, Facilities), GiG Gaming Cloud (iGC) and Betting Cloud in a phased move during September 2017 to the new @GiG Beach premises while September 2018 will see GIG Media (Innovation Labs) and GiG Gaming (Rizk, Brand X, Guts, Thrills, Superlenny, Kaboo, Betspin) relocate to @GiG Sky.

MGA Suspends Star World Limited Remote License

No explanatory information released by Maltese Authority

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has notified its suspension of Star World Limited‘s remote gaming license MGA/CL1/1020/2014 as of July 31, 2017.

Star World Limited has been directed to indefinitely suspend all gaming operations, cease to register new players, suspend all transactions on all websites, including deposits and withdrawals, and submit all data and documentation requested by the Authority.

Star World Limited’s operating website mrringo.com still appeared to be open for business at the time of publishing.

Players are invited to send an email to the MGA if they have any outstanding payments due to them on the mentioned licence at support.mga@mga.org.mt.

Brian Cullingworth

Infopowa news was a staple of Casinomeister’s news from 2000 until 2019. Brian Cullingworth was the main writer, contributor, and was one of the most knowledgeable persons I have ever known involved in the online casino industry.

We first met in January 2001 at the ICE in London where I observed him going booth to booth interviewing online casino, software, and licensing jurisdiction representatives. Brian was also heavily involved with our forum as “Jetset“, he was involved as an informal consultant to eCOGRA, the OPA, and was a player advocate who assisted countless aggrieved players with his connections to industry folks. He also published “Casino Cautions” via Infopowa news for quite a number of years. These can be found in our news archives.

His passing in February 2019 was a dark day for us. He will be forever missed.


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