UK Gambling Operators Get Brexit Guidance From Malta Gaming Authority
Brexit continues to pose numerous challenges for gambling operators in the United Kingdom.
Many of the big players in the European gambling market are based out of the UK and they are not very certain how things will play out once Brexit is triggered.
This is why the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has released its own set of guidelines for its UK stakeholders for post-Brexit operations.
Brexit is set to happen on October 31 though no deal has been agreed to by both the UK and EU. While the two parties continue to hold discussions, gambling operators are not very well prepared to deal with the consequences of Brexit as they are really not certain what they should or should not do.
This is the main reason why the MGA has asked UK operators with a Malta gambling license to ensure that they are established properly in the European Economic Area. If they do not have these credentials, then they might risk losing their license. The guidance that the MGA sent out recently has a lot of information which should make it easier for gambling operators to comply with the specified guidelines.
If the UK is no longer a part of the EU after Brexit, UK operators will need to ensure that they either transfer their license to another company that is part of their group of companies or they apply for re-domiciliation which means transferring their registration from the UK to the EU. If any UK gambling operator fails to comply with these regulations which fall under Regulation 10, their license will be suspended.
The MGA is not going to pull the plug immediately on UK operators though. There will be twelve month transition period for licensees so that they can re-establish themselves in the European Economic Area.
Regulation 22
Another regulation that Malta requires operators to meet is called Regulation 22. This is directed at EU-licensed operators and suppliers that have no license in Malta but still operate in the country by providing a service. Regulation 22 requires them to get a recognition notice with the MGA.
The problem is that once the UK leaves the EU, UK licensees will not be considered as EU licenses any longer. This means that they need to apply for a Malta license or apply for recognition notice under a license from an EU member country.
UK operators will be happy to know that the MGA has confirmed that it will continue to recognise game certificates or random number generators that follow UK standards, such as GamStop which you can find more information about at NonGamstopSites.com
Carolyn DuttonAuthor
Carolyn is our legislation expert, with a background in law she is able to cover the current state of gambling around the world
