Parliament of Malta passes updated gaming regulations

Last week allegedly saw the Parliament of Malta pass legislation via a third reading which will institute new rules for the regulation of accredited online and Rival gambling operations whilst additionally strengthening the ability of the Malta Gambling Authority to enforce these standards that are updated.

Based on that a May 9 press release in the Malta Gambling Authority, the new Gaming Act ratified from the 67-member body that the previous day is supposed to come into force for Malta-licensed iGaming suppliers from July 1 before becoming applicable to counterpart land-based operators in January 1.

The regulator explained that the updated Gaming Act will fortify its ‘supervisory role’ in order to ‘elevate the jurisdictional profile of Malta from a regulatory perspective’. It detailed that this is to specifically involve compliance and law responsibilities in the realms of participant protection, anti-money laundering and criminal and administrative justice whilst moreover giving it increased oversight powers and the ability to intervene in a ‘proportionate manner’.

“The new law determines very robust compliance and enforcement powers and structures and sets the necessary foundation to continue to fortify player protection. ”

Moreover, the regulator said that the new rules are made to fortify responsible gaming measures and also the means by which accredited entities report suspicious sportsbetting trades while introducing ‘objective-orientated criteria’ to encourage innovation and development.

Eventually, the Malta Gambling Authority said that the brand new legislation is currently being scrutinized by fellow member states of the European Union under the auspices of the Technical Regulation Information System process while it has begun liaising with already-licensed operators in order to produce ‘guidelines about the interpretation and application of the new laws and policy’.

Silvio Schembri, Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Parliamentary Secretary for Malta, allegedly revealed that the forthcoming years will see the Malta Gambling Authority periodically review the achievement of their new rules before advising Ministers ‘about the attainment of its goals mainly focusing on consumer security and integrity’.

“I want to thank the Malta Gambling Authority for moving the regulatory agenda for gaming services ahead and for identifying areas for additional and constant improvement,” read an announcement from Schembri.