MGA suspends Genesis Global’s licence as insolvency looms
Regulator adheres to law and suspends firm’s licence following dreadful December which saw mass redundancies
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has suspended Genesis Global’s licence after the much-maligned operator entered insolvency last month.
The regulator confirmed the operator’s licence would be suspended in accordance with MGA regulations concerning insolvency.
The MGA said: “This sanction is being imposed upon the authorised person [Genesis Global] for having breached reg. 9 (1) (f) of the regulations since the authorised person is being wound up.
“The authorised person is thus no longer authorised to carry out any gaming operations, register new players or accept new customer deposits, and must continue collaborating with the authority.”
Genesis Global sent a letter to all of its 140 employees on 23 December informing them that they would be made redundant.
The letter, sent just two days before Christmas, also informed staff that they may not be paid all, or indeed any, the monies due to them.
The letter read: “The company initiated proceedings in the courts of Malta for it to be declared insolvent. As a consequence, this has unfortunately resulted in your position being declared redundant.
“The company may not be able to pay all or any of the dues that are due to you in terms of law. We are currently trying our best to find a solution to this issue by trying to raise some funds and in addition, we hope to liaise with the authorities concerned in order to ease the burden.”
The collapse came following the departure of CEO and co-founder Ariel Reem after the operator also confirmed its exit from the UK market.
Reem did not disclose his reasoning for leaving the company at the time of his departure.
Genesis Global did have its UK licence suspended in 2020, but it was later reinstated.