The Malta Gaming Authority responded on Thursday to recent media coverage in relation to allegations that it had failed to monitor online gambling operations by its licensees for suspicious activity in accordance with its own principles.
Reuters reported on Monday citing a former MGA employee – Valery Atanasov, that the regulatory body had issued licenses to several online gambling operators without performing the so-called “sealing” procedure.
The MGA had previously “sealed” hardware, used by Malta-located iGaming companies, as a measure for the prevention of money laundering and other illicit practices. Being employed at the regulator, Mr. Atanasov had been among the people performing the “sealing”. He told Reuters that the procedure had been a precondition for the issuance of a license to one company or another.
The former MGA employee explained that interested operators had been supposed to present the regulator with a diagram of the exact location of the hardware they would use to provide iGaming services to customers from all around Europe. Seals had then been placed on computers and other devices, based on that diagram.
Mr. Atanasov told Reuters that he had himself refused to perform the sealing procedure at the offices of several companies where what had been shown on the diagram had not matched the actual placement of hardware. Nevertheless, the MGA had granted licenses to those same companies, according to the authority’s former employee.
The regulatory body published its response to the above allegations, saying they were unfounded and that the “sealing” has been discontinued and replaced by more modern and effective procedures, ones corresponding to the current technological developments.
The regulator also explained that its monitoring policies currently include 24/7 CCTV monitoring at respective data centers, regular audits and technical checks, data extractions, and many more. It further pointed out that all practices are performed in full compliance with international standards, which in turn allows Malta-based gambling operators to provide services in a manner that meets EU principles.
The MGA called the “sealing” practice an obsolete one and further noted that even when had been deployed, it had not had direct link to the regulatory body’s tax evasion and anti-money laundering policies. As stated in its written response, it has been using other, much more effective, mechanisms to prevent these and other illicit activities.
Mr. Atanasov was dismissed from his role at the MGA in 2015 following a decision made by a specially appointed disciplinary board. A case involving the regulatory body and its former employee is currently heard by Malta’s Industrial Tribunal.
