Malta egaming licences increase by 18.5% in H1 2018

The number of egaming companies applying for Malta licences grew by more than 100 in the first half of 2018, according to figures released by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).

Releasing its report for the period January-June, regulators confirmed over 661 remote gaming licences were issued to 300 companies in operation on the island, a rise of more than 18.5% on the same period in 2017 when 558 remote gaming licences were in operation.

The Maltese gaming industry generated more than €623m during H1 2018, contributing almost 12.2% of the island’s total economic growth during the first six months of 2018. Taxation revenues received by the MGA grew by 1.5% during the first half of 2018, rising to €29.4m.

In addition, the number of full-time jobs in the gaming industry rose by 2.6% to more than 6,849 positions during the period. The MGA attributed this rise to an increase of 160 jobs in the remote gaming sector.

During the period, the MGA issued over 45 administrative fines to licensed operators for undisclosed regulatory offences. Following repeated breaches to regulations, the MGA suspended one licensed operator, while cancelling the licences of a further five operators.

As part of its ongoing duties, the MGA’s fit & proper committee refused to issue licences to 35 individuals. Ten of these were new applicants, while another 25 were individuals wanting to operate at existing licensed firms.

Between January and June 2018, the MGA received 1,831 complaints from players and resolved a total of 1,794 during the period.