LGA chairman resigns in board shake-up
Mario Galea and CEO Reuben Portanier both replaced by newly created executive chairman role at Maltese regulatory body
The chairman and chief executive of Malta’s Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) have both stood down from their roles after the regulator decided to restructure the Board and install a new executive chairman.
Chairman Mario Galea, who will stay on as a consultant to the LGA, resigned from his position on Tuesday following the departure of Reuben Portanier, who stepped down as CEO last month after nearly five years at the regulatory body.
Galea and Portanier have been replaced by Joeseph Cuschier, who has taken up the newly created role of executive chairman and is now responsible for strengthening Malta’s position as an egaming jurisdiction.
Galea told eGaming Review the changes were the result of a report commissioned by the Board in April which assessed the regulator’s role within Malta’s egaming industry.
“Based on the outcome of that report, the Board recommended to the Maltese Government a number of steps to strengthen the Maltese gaming industry,” Galea said. “One of them was to appoint an executive chairman so that the gaming policy is executed more effectively.”
Cuschier joins the regulator after having gained experience as chief commercial officer at Vodafone Malta, senior consultant with Ernst & Young and chief operating officer at the Malta Communications Authority.
In welcoming Cuschier to the LGA, parliamentary secretary Edward Zammit said he felt the regulator was now well-positioned to aid the growth of Malta’s egaming industry.
“With Mr Cuschieri’s appointment at the helm of the LGA and the support of Mr Galea’s expertise in the remote gaming sector, I am confident that the LGA will have the right professional set-up to enable its continued development,” he said.
The news follows the signing of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding between the LGA and the Alderney Gambling Control Commission to enhance information sharing and to address issues concerning cloud regulation, player liquidity and reciprocal server location.