REGULATION
staff, accommodation costs represent a meaningful component of the true cost of establishing substance on the island, and assumptions based on Malta's historical reputation as affordable can lead to materially understated relocation budgets. Finally, the complexity of the EU market access landscape deserves mention. While an MGA B2B licence provides the passporting right to supply services cross-border throughout the EU and EEA, an increasing number of member states have developed nationally licensed, ring- fenced frameworks for gaming that impose local requirements on B2B suppliers whose software or content is used by locally licensed operators 21 . The passporting right opens the door; it does not resolve every local compliance obligation behind it. Conclusion Malta's position as Europe's leading B2B gaming jurisdiction rests on structural characteristics — the depth of the MGA's regulatory framework, the EU passporting rights available to licensees, the competitive effective tax rate achievable
through the imputation system, and the maturity of the commercial ecosystem — that competing jurisdictions have invested years in attempting to replicate without, to date, achieving the same combination. That position is not without challenge. The substance agenda has raised the bar for what it means to operate legitimately from Malta, and the costs of meeting that bar are real. The banking environment demands patience and preparation. The talent market requires realistic expectations on compensation. And the EU's evolving approach to corporate tax harmonization introduces structural uncertainty that any long-term planning must account for. For practitioners advising B2B gaming operators on jurisdictional structure, the honest conclusion is that Malta remains the most complete answer to the question of where to base a serious European gaming supply operation — provided that the setup is done properly, with genuine substance, quality professional support, and a clear-eyed understanding of both what the jurisdiction delivers and what it asks of the companies that choose it.
ROGER A STRICKLAND Director, CSB Group, Malta For information contact roger.strickland@csbgroup.com +356 2557 2557
21 See, e.g., Gemeinsame Geschäftsstelle Glücksspiel (GGL), technical requirements for gaming software providers in Germany; Spelinspektionen, supplier registration requirements in Sweden
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IMGL MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 2026
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