Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/608340
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2015 Gaming in Malta III Malta's 'Silicon Valley' of remote gaming What are the lacunas and issues we still face? Our challenge is to remain relevant in a fast paced and dynamic environ- ment. Our agenda for the future is based on innovation and growth. Plans to improve existing legislation to cater for new technologies, innovations and growth should leave the desired ef- fect on the industry. I am sure that all stakeholders will appreciate what we have in mind. Do you not believe that the participation of Maltese nationals in the gaming sector is still far too low? It is low but having expats working in Malta is a positive thing. It has helped us build the right competencies and skills. It is a fact that two thirds of em- ployees in the remote gaming sector are foreigners. What we need to do to increase participation of Maltese na- tionals is to create the right training and develop- ment institutions to build the required skills. The new Gaming Acad- emy of Malta to be launched next year is designed to address that gap. There are a number of concerns that the advantages we offer gaming companies may be at risk. How real are these? Risks are always there, in any kind of business. What we do to address those risks is what defines outcomes. Most of the risks we face as a jurisdic- tion are not local but emanate mainly from outside Malta. I can assure you that we are on top of any such risks and dealing with them through the right channels with clearly articulated initia- tives. Remote gaming brings with it many ethical and moral issues, how do you respond to these justified concerns? Consumer protection is key for us. To obtain a licence from the MGA, an operator needs to adhere to a number of consumer protection and responsi- ble gaming requirements. Education is critical in ensuring that consumers play responsibly. The vast majority of people play responsibly and see gam- ing as a form of entertainment. There are unfortunately a small percentage of people who gamble excessively and enter the realm of problem gambling. The latter category of gamblers needs to be tackled professionally by specially trained people. The Responsible Gaming Founda- tion, which was launched last year, has been set up to ad- dress such situations. Malta has been the target of money laundering operations and some remote gaming companies have been investigated for their role. How do you ensure that such activities are curtailed? Effective supervision and monitoring of the sector helps to minimise such risks. Furthermore, continuous im- provements in our compliance activities and investment in cut- ting edge information systems improves the robustness of our supervisory mechanisms. Are you happy with diligence procedures in place? Yes. Having said that, we continuously keep our processes under review to optimise our governance mechanisms including our on-boarding process. Looking at the next five years, how do you see this sector developing? The sector is set to keep on growing but not necessarily at the same pace of previous years. This is because we have most of the biggest names in the industry already established in Malta. I envisage more consolidation and M&A activities in the market going forward. Furthermore, I believe that Malta can be the hub of adjacent activities to re- mote gaming such as IT development, game design, payments processing and back office activities. My vision is for Malta to be the "Silicon Valley" of remote gaming and our strategy is based on that. are foreigners. What we need to do to increase participation of Maltese na- tionals is to create the right training and develop- ment institutions to build the required skills. The new Gaming Acad- emy of Malta to be launched next year is designed to address that gap. There are a number of concerns that the advantages we offer gaming companies may be at risk. How real are these? Risks are always there, in any kind of business. What we do to address those risks is what defines outcomes. Most of the risks we face as a jurisdic- tion are not local but emanate mainly from outside Malta. I can assure you that we are on top of any such risks and dealing with them through the right channels with clearly articulated initia- tives. Remote gaming brings with it many ethical and moral issues, how do you respond to these justified concerns? Consumer protection is key for us. To obtain a licence from the MGA, an operator needs to adhere to a number of consumer protection and responsi- ble gaming requirements. Education is critical in ensuring that consumers play responsibly. The vast majority of people play responsibly and see gam- ing as a form of entertainment. There are unfortunately a small percentage of people who gamble excessively and enter the realm of problem gambling. The latter category of gamblers needs to be tackled professionally by specially trained people. The Responsible Gaming Founda- tion, which was launched last year, has been set up to ad- dress such situations. Malta has been the target of money laundering operations and some remote gaming companies have been investigated for their role. How do you ensure that such activities are curtailed? Effective supervision and monitoring of the sector helps to minimise such risks. Furthermore, continuous im- provements in our compliance activities and investment in cut- ting edge information systems improves the robustness of our supervisory mechanisms. Are you happy with diligence procedures in place? Yes. Having said that, we continuously keep our processes under review to optimise our governance mechanisms including our on-boarding process. The sector is set to keep on growing but not necessarily at the same pace of previous years