The duration of a gambling licence is indefinite as long as licence holders comply with MGA regulations within the stipulated scope. There are no validity restrictions on the licence, however, all licence holders are obligated to pay a fixed, non-refundable annual licence fee in advance for the 12 running months from the issuance of the licence and every anniversary thereafter.

Non-residents are allowed to own a gambling company in Malta, with no limitations imposed on the nationality or residency of the company’s owners. One of the most common legal structures for gambling businesses in Malta is a Private Limited Liability Company (Ltd) with 1-50 shareholders, all of which can be non-residents.

A Malta-based gambling company is permitted to have directors who are not local residents, provided that a number of requirements and obligations are met by the company and its directors to comply with the regulations set by the MGA.

Information on the capital requirements may be found in the ‘Requirements’ section above.

Entities holding a gambling licence in Malta are subject to various taxes and fees, including a Corporate Income Tax imposed on the company’s profits, a Gaming Tax levied on gaming revenue generated within Malta, a Value Added Tax (VAT) applicable based on standard VAT rules in addition to various fees, administrative charges and social contributions.

With an MGA licence an operator can target all regulated markets, provided that online gambling is legal and not subject to local licensing requirements in those jurisdictions and unless the country is blacklisted or greylisted. There are a number of caveats to this rule though, so it is important to stay up-to-date with the evolving regulations.

What is most important for international operations is that if a company based in a country inside the European Union has a gambling licence, its services can be offered throughout the EU – leveraging the potential market of over half a billion people. This is legally framed by the EU Freedom of Establishment law and supported by judgments of the European Court of Justice (European Court of Justice ruling of 9th September 2010 – C316/07).

By definition, the term “key function” means an important function, role or task carried out by a person in connection with a gaming service or a gaming supply, as may be prescribed by the Gaming Authorisations and Compliance Directive (Directive 3 of 2018).

Key Persons are required to have full knowledge, understanding and access to the applicant’s or licensee’s operations, as may be necessary for them to carry out their respective Key Function/s.

Applicants are required to be fit and proper in order to carry out their respective roles, not only at the time of their application for a Key Function Certificate, but also on an ongoing basis thereafter.

Any changes in the individual responsible for any of the Key Functions must be notified to the MGA, and the new individual appointed must likewise be approved by the MGA.

Essential components for the setup of a licensee’s operation include those hosting Random Number Generators, jackpots, games, gaming database, player database, financial database, control systems and any other component deemed critical by the Authority.

The applicable regulations and directives may be found here.