The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), whose purpose is to regulate gaming industry sectors by ensuring fair and transparent gaming, crime prevention, and the protection of minors and vulnerable players, has placed a Cancellation of Authorization number ‘MGA/ B2C/425/2017’ against Arabmillionaire Limited. 

The latter will need to notify its players of the new development and provide fund withdrawals to any current players, together with clear guidelines on the procedure. They will also need to send a transaction report to the MGA and settle an outstanding fee of €50,000 ($52,708) within five days from the date of receipt of their letter.

The Initial Notice, Filed in August 2022

The initial Notice of Cancellation was issued by the MGA on August 4, 2022, and offered the company 20 days to “show cause” as to why the regulator should not enforce the measure that was highlighted in the respective Notice, according to reg. 10 (2) (a) of the Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations (S.L. 583.06).

Following the issuance of the Notice, Arabmillionaire and its consultants informed the MGA of the “major restructuring exercise” it was undergoing while requesting, among other things, a freezing of its license with the intent to finish and settle all outstanding problems.

Pursuant to these submissions, and in spite of the several different breaches that constituted grounds for authorization cancellation, the MGA decided to suspend the Arabmillionaire’s license on October 12, 2022, as a means of offering the company the chance to rectify its standing with them.

The MGA, whose 2022 report reflected on a troubled year, also informed Arabmillionaire they would initiate the cancellation of its license in case it would not remedy its breaches and settle all outstanding payments to both the MGA and its registered players while providing “full assurance” that it is capable of holding the authorization and operating under its terms. 

Arabmillionaire, Given “Ample Time” to Address the Issues

Arabmillionaire chose not to appeal the MGA’s license suspension decision. In spite of being offered “ample time” to tackle the breaches, the company did not “rectify its position and cooperate” with the MGA. 

The authority also explained that all its attempts to communicate with the company following November 2022 “have been rendered futile” and that their breaches never stopped. 

The MGA stated that, in addition to the payment of the outstanding license fee mentioned in their Notice, Arabmillionaire’s license fee for the year 2023 fell due on June 13, 2023, during the operative period of the license suspension. 

Accordingly, the MGA considers Arabmillionaire owns an additional amount of €25,000 ($26,350), totaling €50,000 ($52,708) in annual license fees for license periods starting June 13, 2022 and June 13, 2023, respectively.

The MGA also reserves the right to take additional measures to recover the outstanding dues from the company provided they would fail to “rectify accordingly” and also in case they would not settle all outstanding claims from all registered players.

In June, the authority announced it would push for the implementation of fresh legislation that would protect the country’s online gaming companies from global prosecution. 

At the start of the year, the same regulator brought significant changes to its Player Protection Directive, asking licensees to monitor harm-related markers. 

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