Application Process

The application process for a Maltese gaming license is essentially split into three stages on completion of which the applicant is awarded a Letter of Intent.

First stage: The first stage is the conduct of a fit and proper test on the applicant including an assessment of the personal capacity of the persons involved to carry out gaming activities. The applicant must submit an application for a remote gaming licence and this must include a personal declaration form for each person having a five percent or higher interest in the license. Furthermore, the applicant is also obliged to submit due diligence information (passport copies, bank references etc.) to the satisfaction of the regulator. The LGA will also require sight of the proposed business plan of the applicant for its review and approval.

Second stage: At this stage the LGA carries out an examination of the various building blocks of the operation including the incorporation documents, the games to be offered, the business functions, the gaming rules, player rules, application of the game systems and the control system amongst others.

Third stage: Following successful completion of stage two, a temporary licence, a so-called “Letter of Intent” or “LOI”, will be granted. The Letter of Intent gives the applicant the right to operate remote gaming from Malta with the condition of obtaining a certification of compliance within six months. The applicant may then establish the business, conclude all agreements, find a service provider to host its equipment, acquire office space, set up the operation and carry out testing.

Once the system is operating and live, the applicant may request to be certified and if successful a five year licence will be issued once the authority receives a positive report from the auditors.

It usually takes between four to eight months for the whole process but this also depends on the level of preparation of the applicant. One has to note that the LGA first issues the Letter of Intent which allows the company to go live with their website. A licence will than be issued once the company passes a compliance audit which will have to take place during the six months after the Letter of Intent has been issued. The company will have to start operations three months, at the latest, after the LOI is issued.