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Malta Licensing Procedures

Licensing in Malta is a two-phase process. After successful completion of both phases a letter of intent is issued by the Gaming and Lotteries Authority (LGA). This is followed by certification of the operation, which should normally be carried out within 6 months from the obtaining of the provisional license. Upon successful citification a five year license is issued.

The two phases of the process are:

1. Online gambling license application
2. Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) audit and inspection

Phase 1: Online gambling license application

The first thing to do is launch an offshore company in Malta. Costs involved amount to 5,500 Euro. These investments include the following basics:

Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) registration fee;
Memorandum and Article draft;
Duty Exemption stamp receiving;
VAT registration;
Costs on a secretary hiring;
Two nominee shareholders involvement;
Land-based office registration.

The initial cost of the license application approximated to non-refundable 2,330 EUR. Your application will be filed in a two-week term from the moment of all the needed documentation collected and sent to the law company that handles your business licensing. The processing of your application will take about 1-2 months followed by a 6 months period for business establishing, audit and other required arrangements. When all the activities are made LGA will initiate a license issuing which is supposed to take two weeks in case your application is correct.

Step 2: LGA audit and inspection

During the first phase, a prospective licensee submits an application form and provides detailed information about the proposed business and persons involved in the process of business operation. The information submitted is a basis of the due diligence process carried out by LGA, evaluating the suitability of the applicant for the license granting.

STAGE 1: Shareholders personalities and business plan investigation

The first point to investigate is personal data of persons involved in the licensing process from the side of the applicant. Aspects investigated are financing, management and viability of the operation. The investigation involves national and international regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies into the process. Also the presented business plan is carefully analyzed. The aspects highlighted in the business plan should include the following statements:

Business and objectives of operation overview;
Desired structure of the company;
Descriptions of the services that will be offered;
Technologies and tool that are planned to be utilized;
Description of the software planned to be used as a basis of the online gambling website;
3 years promotion plan;
3 years profits & loss estimate
3 years cash flow statement
3 years financing plan

LGA will require the following list of legal documents for every shareholder with over 5% interest:

Filled form LGA/51/2004-1, which is an application for Remote Gaming License Personal Declaration;
Colored copy of a passport in good quality;
Original of birth certificate;
Police conduct certificate;
Financial/Bank reference;
Passport-size photo;
Statement of affairs;
Bookmaker license (if issued in any other country).

Costs involved:

legal guidance - EUR 11,800;
key official fees - EUR 6,800.

Stage 2. Tools for business conduct audit

The audit of tools and instrument that are planned to be utilized includes documents of incorporation examining, gambling games security and honesty audit, games rules and terms and conditions research, etc.

This stage involves submission of the following list of legal documents:

Statutory documentation package;
Company policies descriptions;
Company procedures overview;
Detailed company description;
Random number generator description;
Specification of the Gaming System .

When the audit process was passed, the applicant will be issued with a Letter of Intent (LOI) that allows operating remote gambling business with the intent of obtaining a certification of compliance within six months. During this term business in Malta should be established and all agreements should be finalized. The applicant may then establish the business in Malta, conclude all agreements and carry out the whole system testing. As soon as an approval is received from LGA an applicant will be issued with a compliance certification entity. This process takes about 2 weeks.

After the "Letter of Intent" is issued by LGA, you will deploy your system and set-up the business in Malta. You will have to pay an annual license fee of EUR 7,000 a compliance audit fee of EUR 5,000. Malta gambling license is issued by LGA for a period of 5 years.

Costs involved: