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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 JANUARY 2016 Gaming in Malta III The architecture of Malta's gaming industry The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) The MGA's legal role, according to the Lotteries and Other Games Act 2001, is to regulate the various sectors of the gaming industry that fall under the Authority. To satisfy these legal obligations, the MGA aims to ensure gaming is fair and transparent, protect minors and vulner- able persons, safeguard players' rights, promote responsible gaming in a safe environment, ensure the integrity of games and gaming devices and keep gaming free from criminal activities, corruption and money laundering. It also consolidates all regulatory functions relating to gaming activities while providing a one-stop-shop for li- censing. It offers support to the industry in technological innovation as well as provide authoritative and accessible information. In practice the Authority grants all licences relating to gaming and moni- tors licensed gaming while collecting gaming taxes on behalf of the govern- ment. It also conducts research on various aspects of gaming, ensures the sector contributes to the coun- try's development and supports good causes. The Malta Gaming Authority is chaired by Joseph Cuschieri. Malta Remote Gaming Council (MRGC) MRGC was launched in March 2005 as an initiative of the Malta Lotter- ies and Gaming Authority as part of its strategic plan to create a dy- namic regulatory environ- ment for remote gaming. The council is made up of stakeholders in the remote gaming industry including licensed opera- tors, data carriers, Internet service providers, lawyers and professional service providers. Its main objective is to serve as an ongoing discussion forum, giving valuable feedback to the Malta Gaming Authority to be able to keep abreast with the latest developments in the industry. The Malta Remote Gaming Council is chaired by George Debrincat. GamingMalta GamingMalta was launched in March 2015 by the Malta Gaming Authority to serve as a promo- tional arm for Malta's gaming industry. Its aim is to enhance and focus all the promotional efforts previously conduct- ed by the Malta Gaming Authority and to further enhance the communications channel between all the industry stake- holders. This is meant to ensure that all support services provided in Malta meet the industry's current and future needs it anticipates. Responsible Gaming Foundation The Responsible Gaming Foundation is a non-profit making organisation sup- porting good governance, awareness initiatives and enactment of regulations in order to protect vulnerable people in the gaming sector. In doing so it admin- isters funds collected for the support of individuals affected by gaming-related projects,to foster awareness about re- sponsible gaming and organise projects aimed at rehabilitating problem gamers. In just over ten years, the remote gaming industry in Malta has flourished. This has given rise to quite a complex gaming architecture that can be hard to navigate. Understanding the roles of these organisations is a good way to start Responsible Gaming Foundation is a non-profit making organisation supporting good governance, awareness initiatives and enactment of regulations in order to protect vulnerable people in the gaming sector Gaming Authority to serve as a promo- tional arm for Malta's gaming industry. promotional efforts previously conduct- ed by the Malta Gaming Authority and to further enhance the communications channel between all the industry stake- holders. This is meant to ensure that all support services provided in Malta meet the industry's current and future needs it anticipates. Responsible Gaming Foundation is a non-profit making organisation sup- porting good governance, awareness initiatives and enactment of regulations in order to protect vulnerable people in the gaming sector. In doing so it admin- isters funds collected for the support of individuals affected by gaming-related projects,to foster awareness about re- sponsible gaming and organise projects aimed at rehabilitating problem gamers. 35 T hose who are not in touch with the online gaming sector may perhaps not realise that Malta, the smallest EU Member State, is in fact the largest regulatory jurisdiction in Europe for online gaming, with more than 425 online gaming licences granted to more than 240 operators, including the big players such as Betsson, Betfair, Stanleybet, Unibet, Microgaming, Pokerstars, Playtech, Bet- at-home, and Virgin Games. Indeed, if one delves into this sector and the numbers behind it, with 4,000 people employed directly by the industry and an equivalent number employed by the firms servicing the licenced operators, then Malta could be easily compared to Silicon Valley in terms of having the full supply chain for online gaming operating in and from Malta. The achievements of Malta in this field are indeed impressive. Reuben Portanier, Chief Executive Officer of Malta's Lotteries and Gaming Authority sheds some light on what makes Malta so unique and attractive in this sector. Some have dubbed Malta the 'Silicon Valley' or 'City of London' of gaming. How did this come about? Over twenty years ago, Malta articulated a well thought- out national strategy for embracing the services industry and technology. Malta placed considerable investment in education, telecommunications and IT, e-Government and a strong financial services regime. This strategic outlook created the right mix for addressing an upcoming niche sector in 2000, that of online gaming. Based on the successful approach in IT and in financial services, the Government designed a forward looking legislative framework for regulating online gaming which was specifically designed to stand the test of time by having a regulatory framework that was both technology-neutral and game-neutral, thus ensuring that the regulations could cater for the sector's evolution, both in terms of technology and in terms of business models. Thus Malta's regulatory framework remains current and relevant. Moreover, the regulations were based on regulating risk, with a string accent on consumer protection. This gave rise to a very attractive regulatory regime for operators, as they see Malta as a strict jurisdiction but at the same time a very business-friendly one. From day one, the legislator had a clear aim in mind, to devise a regulatory regime that would replicate the high reputation enjoyed by the Maltese financial services sector, coupled with the cross- linkage with other regulatory aspects, such as the anti-money laundering regulations and its principles, data protection, anti-corruption laws in sports, cyber- crime regulations, investment promotion, tax rules, advertising codes and others. This set the backdrop for the supervisory approach that was to be adopted by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA). Malta seems to have created an attractive yet strict regulatory regime, how do you strike this balance? Yes, definitely. Malta's remote gaming regulatory framework is based on the principles of responsible gaming and consumer protection, which makes consumers feel more comfortable playing on a Malta Licensee. This is an important aspect for operators as it provides comfort to customers. This has an important bearing on the selection of Malta as a place to invest. However, as you correctly note, the legislative framework alone is not the only component in success. Through the years, Malta's private sector service providers, including the telecoms operators, data centre operators, law firms, audit firms, testing labs, banking and payment institutions, and consultants all invested heavily in their gaming knowledge and capacity base, which also contributes to an effective regulatory approach and an attractive place where gaming operators could invest in, and operate from. The fact that such enterprises have top-notch industry specialists as service providers was and is a key determining factor encouraging entrepreneurs to choose Malta. We offer the full supply chain. Moreover, other attractive propositions also entice entrepreneurs to locate their gaming operations in Malta, such as the full imputation tax system (with tax refunds to shareholders of up to 6/7ths), the highly qualified persons tax rules (a 15 per cent flat tax rate for specialised positions in gaming and financial services, but subject to certain conditions), the lowest crime rate in Europe, the excellent standard of living, the availability of technical resources, one of the strongest banking systems globally, an economy which has proved to be resilient to the economic turmoil of the past 4 years, and the list keeps going on. MALTA FIRST INTERVIEW WITH REUBEN PORTANIER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, LOTTERIES AND GAMING AUTHORITY, MALTA REUBEN PORTANIER is an economics graduate and has senior management experience in the ICT industry and in Management Consultancy. In 2004, he assisted the Government of Bermuda in its capacity building exercise on ICT and eGovernment Strategic Planning. As a Senior Executive with MITTS Ltd, he was also the chair of Government's CIO Council, was a member of the National Information Society Advisory Council and was Malta's representative on the International Council for Information Technology in Public Administration (ICA). In 2006, Mr Portanier co-authored the Government's Industry Strategy for Malta 2007-2010. Mr Portanier is one of the key national technical experts on gaming regulation and policy, in various EU and EC working groups. Europe's e-gaming 'Silicon Valley' Joseph Cuschieri, executive chairman of the Malta Gaming Authority