REGULATION
Malta as a B2B gaming jurisdiction: regulatory foundations, commercial realities and the road ahead ROGER STRICKLAND EXAMINES THE REGULATORY ARCHITECTURE UNDERPINNING THE O.G. OF REMOTE GAMING HUBS
the fiscal architecture available to licensed operators, the commercial ecosystem that has developed around the industry, the substance requirements that now govern what it means to operate legitimately from Malta, and the limitations that any serious operator must plan for. The objective is to assess Malta's position accurately so that practitioners and their clients can make well-informed decisions. The Regulatory Architecture: The MGA and the B2B Framework The Malta Gaming Authority is the competent authority for the regulation of all gaming activity in or from Malta. It operates under the Gaming Act, Chapter 583 of the Laws of Malta, which came into force in August 2018 and replaced
Introduction Ask practitioners who advise B2B gaming operators where to base a serious European operation and the answer, in the overwhelming majority of cases, remains Malta. This has been true since 2004, when Malta became the first European Union member state to introduce a comprehensive regulatory framework for remote gaming. This remains true today, despite over two decades of competitive pressure from other jurisdictions and a regulatory environment that has grown considerably more demanding. Understanding why requires looking beyond headline tax figures and into the structural characteristics that define Malta as a gaming jurisdiction. This article approaches that question from a practitioner's perspective. It examines the MGA's B2B licensing framework,
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IMGL MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2026
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