Two of the biggest and most respectable gambling regulators in the industry, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) have held a meeting where they discussed a potential partnership regarding responsible gambling, anti-money laundering, and sports betting integrity.
Carl Brincat, the CEO of MGA, and Kinga Warda, the Chief of Policy and International Affairs, met with Andrew Rhodes, the CEO of UKGC, and Kay Roberts, Executive Director for Operations, in Malta to discuss regulatory topics to improve the standard of the industry.
Moreover, the representatives from MGA and UKGC also talked about formalizing the partnership between the two regulators via an official document called the Memorandum of Understanding.
As per the official statement of the MGA, the goal of this meeting and officializing the partnership means that the two regulators will work together to strengthen their “commitment to ensuring the highest standards of player protection and fair play” within their respective dominions.
The two regulators also stressed the importance of sharing information when it comes to anti-money laundering/combating the finance of terrorism, sports betting integrity, and compliance.
Furthermore, the MGA has also shared its experience with the sandbox environment launched for the specific use of DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) and the adoption of cryptocurrencies by online gambling operators, which was then followed by a dedicated policy published by the MGA at the beginning of 2023.
Similarly to this, the UKGC gave an update on the consultation that the regulator had as a result of the Gambling Act White Paper by the United Kingdom Government. The UKGC published its own paper on priorities and evidence gaps up to 2023, stating a list of priority regulatory areas that need evidence-based development.
The areas include the variation of gambling experiences, gateway gambling products, as well as the impact of gambling harms on the players.
