Malta unveils sweeping changes to licensing framework

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has proposed sweeping changes to its licensing framework designed to reduce the regulatory burden on operators and make the authority more agile.

The authority yesterday published a white paper to repeal all existing legislation and replace it with a singular primary act of Parliament entitled the Gaming Act.

Chief among the proposed changes is the removal of the current multi-licence system which can see individual operators obtain up to 13 licences for different products and verticals.

Instead the MGA is proposing two licence types – B2C and B2B – with B2B licensees also exempt from gaming tax, in order to reduce bureaucracy and increase Malta’s competitiveness as a hub for services providers, the MGA said.

The white paper also proposed “streamlining taxation into one flow with two main layers,” and “moving towards an objective-based rather than excessively prescriptive regulatory approach, to allow for innovation whilst ensuring that the regulatory objectives are attained”.

Other key changes included broadening the regulator’s oversight and moving towards automated reporting.

“The proposed regulatory framework empowers the MGA to be more agile in its decision-making, and decreasing unnecessary regulatory burdens which are not conducive to the regulatory objectives, whilst concurrently strengthening supervision and focusing the regulator’s efforts on the areas which present a higher risk profile,” the regulator explained.

The white paper is now open for public consultation for a five-week period.