Malta and the MGA in the News — Weekly Round-up for June 8, 2018

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Jun 8, 2018

MGA To Host New Gaming Act Info Sessions

Special focus on broadened regulatory scope

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) will host a series of information sessions for external stakeholders prior to the new Gaming Act coming into force on July 1, 2018.

“These sessions are aimed at giving a thorough explanation of the main changes in the new regulatory regime, with specific focus on the broadened regulatory scope of the MGA”.

In related news, the MGA distanced itself from Turkish-language online gaming operator hunterbetting5.com who is sporting MGA licensing information and its logo.

“Any reference to the MGA and/or gaming licence/s said to be issued by the Maltese Authority, as stated on hunterbetting5.com, are false and misleading,” the MGA said.

The blurb on hunterbetting5.com claims the operator is owned by Hunterbetting Winunited Ltd, situated in Silema, Malta and supported by six MGA licenses.

The prominent MGA logo on the landing page directs to licensee information on Realm Entertainment Limited.

William Hill Hedging Its Bets With Malta Office?

Mediterranean island is an option for the major UK gambling group post-Brexit

William Hill plc appears to following the example of Bet365 (see previous InfoPowa report) in taking the precaution of establishing a Malta office as a post-Brexit alternative jurisdiction.

The Times of Malta reported Friday that William Hill is to open a satellite office in Malta as part of its Brexit strategy.

“We are setting up a Malta office and a small initial organisation for our international facing business post-Brexit,” William Hill digital operations chief Ulrik Bengtsson told the newspaper. “All current locations are unaffected by the new operation,.

Bengtsson is no stranger to Malta, he headed Betsson activity there for several years.

“With William Hill’s online customer base overwhelmingly in the UK, Gibraltar will continue to be its key operational hub post-Brexit,” Bengtsson continued. “However, Malta provides an option for international operations should they be required after Brexit, so an exploratory project team is being recruited with regulatory, legal and compliance roles.”

William Hill employs more than 16,000 people in nine countries. Its online business is headquartered in Gibraltar with marketing and customer service functions in Israel, Bulgaria and the Philippines. It also has licensed websites in Italy and Spain, and William Hill US operates in the states of Nevada and Delaware.

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