SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has reminded all licensed sports betting operators of their duties to submit and document suspicious betting reports from 1 January 2021.
The B2C obligation forms part of the MGA’s revamp of Malta’s ‘Gaming Act’ undertaken during 2018, which saw the regulator amend its criteria for gaming authorisations and strengthen its compliance directives.
From 2021 onwards, all licensed operators must inform the MGA directly of any suspicious betting circumstances recorded by their systems/platforms.
In addition, operators must further document and inform the MGA of any circumstances in which ‘one or more bets’ have been voided owing to suspicious activities.
The MGA has provided prior access to its newly developed ‘Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism’, allowing licensees to submit reports directly to its ‘Sports Integrity Unit’.
The MGA’s integrity unit will review operator submissions and supporting evidence on a case-by-case basis, sharing data with relevant criminal authorities and sports bodies. The unit is led by MGA senior executive Antonio Zerafa as the regulator’s first Sports Integrity Officer.
During 2019 and 2020, the MGA secured multiple ‘cooperation agreements’ with European police and sports bodies to strengthen the reporting monitoring of its new Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism.
“It is now time to formalise the noted directive, so the MGA would like to remind all stakeholders that as of 1 January 2021, Suspicious Betting Reporting Requirements will officially be obligatory for all B2C licensees,” the MGA detailed in its statement.
