Malta has always been at the forefront of the remote gaming industry and has established itself as one of the prime jurisdictions for remote gaming operators. The Remote Gaming Regulations were the first legislative instrument to effectively regulate the remote gaming industry in the European Union.
The key official is the liaison person between the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the licensee. Therefore the designated official must always keep abreast of all the operations being undertaken by the licensee. The key official must be a director of the licensee company and must be a resident of Malta.
The key official is the person who is appointed by the Gaming Company that has obtained the license (hereinafter referred to as ‘the licensee’) in order to liaise with the MGA on behalf the licensee and ensure that the operator is compliant with the Remote Gaming Regulations as well as MGA guidelines.
As stated above, the key official must be resident in Malta. The term ‘residence’ is not defined in the Law and in the Regulations and the key official is not required to stay in Malta for any minimum number of days during the year. However the term ‘resident’ is interpreted to mean that that the key official must be present in Malta in order to be able to fulfill all his duties and legal requirements and is ready available when requested by the MGA.
The Key Official must also be a member of the Board of Directors of the Gaming Company. Approval is required from the MGA for an individual to be appointed a Key Official. All directors of the company must promote the gaming company’s well-being and shall also be responsible for the general governance, proper administration and its management together with the general supervision of its affairs.
Responsibilities of the Key Official
The responsibilities of the key official are:
- Ensuring that the remote gaming system is set up and maintained in accordance with the remote gaming regulations and any license conditions imposed by the MGA.
- Participation and assistance in the certification process (stage three of the license application process) conducted by the MGA
- Submission of periodic financial, administrative and other reports to the MGA. These include:
Preparation of incident reports to report uncontrolled incidents within 24 hours
Preparation of notification reports to submit to and seek MGA approval prior to effecting any critical changes to the gaming infrastructure, core system modules, gaming operation, rules of the games, terms and conditions and games portfolio.
Preparation of monthly player and gaming data reports and reconciliation of monthly player balances in the gaming system to the players’ bank account.
Preparation and submission to the MGA of six monthly Interim Financial Statements.
Submission of the annual audited financial statements to the MGA.
- Payment of the monthly gaming tax and annual gaming license fee within the stipulated time frames.
- Monitoring adherence to the provisions of remote gaming and other pertinent legislation.
The key official must be familiar with IT systems and laws and regulations governing remote gaming, knowledgeable of gaming operations and approved by the MGA as a fit and proper person to hold such post.
The key official is the primary and sole contact between the MGA and the licensee. In fact the MGA recognises only the key official as the person to liaise with on behalf of the licensee and thus effects all communication through the said key official.
