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MGA Annual Report 2019

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MGA Annual Report 2019 ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Contents A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 4 INTRODUCTION 8 THE CORPORATE STRUCTURE 10 1. STRATEGIC FOCUS: INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY 20 2. STRATEGIC FOCUS: QUANTIFYING THE RESPONSIBLE GAMBLING MARKET 22 3. STRATEGIC FOCUS: A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE FOR THE COMPLIANCE FUNCTION 26 4. STRATEGIC FOCUS: OUR APPROACH TO ENFORCEMENT 28 5. STRATEGIC FOCUS: EMPLOYMENT IN THE MALTESE GAMING INDUSTRY 30 OPERATIONAL REVIEW FOR 2019 36 PLAN FOR 2020 60 THE MALTESE GAMING INDUSTRY STATISTICS FOR 2019 64 LIST OF APPENDICES 94 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 98 © Malta Gaming Authority copyright 2020 The text of this document may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium provided that it is reproduced accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Malta Gaming Authority copyright and the document title specified. Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to us at: [email protected]. A message from the Chief Executive Officer I am delighted to introduce the Annual Report of the Malta Gaming Authority Strengthening National and for 2019. It has been a challenging but fruitful year for the Authority, being the International Collaboration first full year following the coming into force of the new Gaming Act in 2018, Sports integrity was not the only area with a strong focus which was also brought into effect for land-based operators in January 2019, on increasing collaboration with other stakeholders. In line with its objective to keep gaming free from crime, and also the first year following the transposition of the EU’s 4th Anti-Money the Malta Gaming Authority strengthened its already Laundering Directive into Maltese law. Both these projects have shaped our good relationship with the Malta Police Force, through the signing of a formal Memorandum of Understanding efforts in 2019, where we intensified our work in compliance and enforcement aimed at improving the efficacy of their cooperation and with a particular focus on anti-money laundering and responsible gambling. exchange of information. Through this, the Authority and the Malta Police Force consolidated their collaboration in investigating and punishing illegal gaming activities, Structure and Governance ensuring that they work hand in hand and use both entities’ resources in the most effective manner to achieve this In 2019, a great focus was placed on ensuring that the As with other internal committees, this Committee is aimed at objective. For the same purpose, the Authority also revised Authority’s governance and structure reflected the increased continuing to increase the checks and balances on the exercise its Memorandum of Understanding with the Financial focus on compliance and enforcement. More resources were, of discretionary power by the Authority and ensure the utmost Intelligence Analysis Unit, with a view to consolidating the in fact, added to compliance, with the scope of implementing transparency in the workings of the Authority. joint supervisory role it has when conducting inspections more effectively the risk-based approach towards regulation. of obliged entities and vetting individuals subject to the This also led to the amalgamation of the Anti-Money The year 2019 also saw the launch of the Malta Gaming 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Laundering and Investigations Units respectively, being Authority’s Enforcement Register on the website, where moved under the Compliance Department, with the aim of all enforcement measures that are made public are easily International collaboration was similarly high on the forming a more effective prudential and ongoing supervision accessible, ensuring that when enforcement measures are such agenda in 2019, and apart from the regular participation team, one that has holistic oversight over the Authority’s that the public ought to know that they have been resorted to, on various panels in a number of conferences and the licensees. these are easily accessible and available on the Register. active involvement within the Gaming Regulators European Forum, coupled with the regular participation The enforcement function also underwent a restructuring Another key milestone in 2019 aimed at preventing crime and at the International Association of Gaming Regulators, the throughout this year and is now forming part of the Legal and ensuring the fairness of the games being offered through our Authority hosted a number of international delegations Enforcement Department. This was a move that consolidated licensed entities, was the creation of the Authority’s Sports with the scope of sharing best practices and assisting the Authority’s efforts towards ensuring that enforcement Integrity Unit in August, tasked with increasing the focus on the new regulators in their journey to develop a holistic legal action and the processes related thereto are proportionate fight against the manipulation of sports competitions. Through framework for the industry within their jurisdiction. In and effective in achieving their aim of ensuring compliance this Unit, the Authority is now able to gather intelligence and total, eight gaming regulators from different jurisdictions with the regulatory instruments governing the sector and information related to suspicious betting activity and serve as were hosted at the Authority’s offices in 2019, and educating licensees on what level of conduct is expected from a liaison with local and foreign regulatory bodies, enforcement collaboration is ongoing on many fronts to varying extents them as a regulated business. agencies, betting monitoring systems, sporting organisations, with the different jurisdictions. and gaming operators, with the aim of providing assistance to These organisational changes were instrumental in local and international investigations on match-fixing. Through consolidating the Malta Gaming Authority’s resolve on this this Unit, the Malta Gaming Authority has been very active, front and were complemented by continued improvements and in 2019, it already signed two very important collaboration in the Authority’s internal governance through the formation agreements, one with the Malta Football Association and the of the Compliance and Enforcement Committee, tasked other with the International Betting Integrity Association, with ensuring consistency in the enforcement measures underlining the determination of all parties involved to tackle that are meted out to non-compliant licensees, in line with betting-related corruption and ensure the integrity of sports. the Guiding Principles for the Application of Enforcement These two agreements paved the way for further collaboration at Measures. a local and international level throughout the following months. 4 ANNUAL REPORT | 2019 5 Responsible Gambling Conclusion In 2019, the Malta Gaming Authority initiated a complete Overall, 2019 was a very challenging, but at the same time, In conclusion, 2019 was my second year as the Malta review of the effectiveness of the provisions contained in rewarding year for the Authority. The focus on consolidation Gaming Authority’s Chief Executive, and I would like to the Player Protection Directive and sought international and the implementation of the Gaming Act, which came thank the whole team at the Authority for their relentless professional assistance in order to strengthen the policies into force earlier in 2018, has yielded the desired outcomes efforts and ongoing commitment towards making 2019 such surrounding the protection of players, with the scope of and enabled the Authority to channel its resources where an important year. Without their passion and dedication, it mattered most. The increased focus on compliance and continuously revising such provisions in order to ensure the coupled with ongoing consultation with the industry and enforcement seen in 2019 will keep growing in the next years, best possible safeguards. Moreover, as part of the ongoing other key stakeholders, we would not have been able to as the Authority keeps international collaboration high on supervision of licensees, in 2019, the Authority also started accomplish so much. A lot was achieved together as a team, the agenda as a key determining factor in the ongoing fight and I am looking forward to continuing this work together undertaking ad hoc responsible gambling audits, tailored against crime, corruption, and money laundering on a local for the Authority to continue delivering on its objectives. specifically to the licensee being audited. These audits have and international level. so far proved an effective means of ensuring the effectiveness of the safeguards required by law as implemented by that These guiding milestones have also contributed towards specific licensee, and they continue to better inform the the formulation of our Corporate Strategy document, Authority on the measures it needs to take to achieve its setting out the Malta Gaming Authority’s roadmap for the objective of protecting vulnerable persons. period 2020–22 and serving as the baseline for progress monitoring for the coming years. Needless to say, this In the past year, we also renewed our commitment to roadmap will now need to take into consideration the funding the Responsible Gaming Foundation, tasked with impacts of the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, which is raising awareness on the possible causes and consequences set to shape the world economy for the foreseeable future; of problem
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