Malta Gaming: How to set up your company
Malta is fast becoming a hot-bed of entrepreneurial igaming business brains from across Europe and the rest of the world. A healthy, stable economy coupled with the island’s favourable climate, makes it an extremely attractive location to set up a remote gaming operation.
Getting a remote gaming license in Malta is fairly painless as long as you have your house in order. The application process is effective and very thorough but can be hindered by missing information or incorrect details. The below outlines the documentation you will need at each stage of the process.
Financial Viability & Due Diligence
This is the first stage of the application process to check that your business is financially viable and that all persons involved are financially legitimate.
Required documentation:
- Application Form (acquired from the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) in Malta
- Detailed Business Plan
- Personal Declaration – should be a form for every shareholder
- Copy of passport or ID
- Original Birth Certificate
- Original Police Conduct or similar certificate
This information will be sent via an LGA contact, the Remote Gaming Control Officer, to an Investigations Officer who will perform a third party database search to determine due diligence of all parties, as well as a Financial Auditor who will liaise with Banks and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to confirm financial standing and business viability.
There is a non-refundable fee that must be submitted along with the application form. This fee will be determined based on what class of license you are applying for. License classes are categorised from 1 to 4 and are detailed on the LGA’s website.
Technical Assessment
The second stage moves on to examine the applicant’s ability to carry out the operation. Everything that is required to conduct the business is carefully analysed.
Required documentation:
- Memo and Articles
- Business Entity Form
- Rules and Regulations of games offered
- Terms and Conditions
- Detailed manual of the system’s hardware and application architecture
- Agreements with third parties
The Control Officer will liaise with other Authority personnel in Compliance as well as with the LGA Chief Inspector to investigate all technical documentation provided as well as reviewing game rule. This is often the area where the information submitted is not thorough enough and delays can be caused. Once this process is complete, the applicant will be awarded a provisional license and has the authority to commence operations.
Probationary Period
The applicant is required to operate under their provisional license for a period of 3 months, in which they will be assessed for compliance certification. This is basically a trial period, overseen by the LGA’s Remote Gaming Inspector, in which all systems and business set-ups should be tested and fine-tuned. After the 3 month period the Gaming Inspector will assess the operation and certify the business, all being well. Certification is only required on the components of the system that directly impact on the operation of the games or the reporting of the gaming and financial transactions. The cost of this process is approximately €2,500 for a well documented, standard gaming system.
Once fully licensed, there is an annual fee that must be paid within 15 days of the license being granted. Again, this fee will be dependent on the class of the license held and will need to be paid every year from initial payment date. Licenses are granted on 5 year terms and an application for renewal is required after this period.
Some of the information was found at Company Formation Malta.