Online Gambling & Industry
MGA licence
A permit from the Malta Gaming Authority that lets a Maltese or EU/EEA company run gambling services or supply gaming systems to other licensees.
Key points
- Covers online and land-based games including casino, live casino, poker, fixed-odds betting, and peer-to-peer games.12
- A game is licensable when there is a stake, predominance of chance, and a prize of money or money's worth.12
- Not the same as a UK remote gambling licence, which is issued by the UK Gambling Commission for players in Great Britain.34
Where this term is used
Not the same as
- UKGC licence — a separate licence issued by the UK Gambling Commission for gambling facilities provided to players in Great Britain
- Curacao gaming licence — a licence from the Curacao Gaming Control Board, not Malta's MGA regime
Related terms
Online
UKGC licence
A licence issued by the UK Gambling Commission for operators targeting Great Britain.
Online
Curacao gaming licence
A gambling licence issued by the Curacao Gaming Control Board.
Online
KYC meaning
Know Your Customer checks required by licensed operators to verify player identity.
Online
Ecogra
An independent testing and certification agency for online gambling software and fairness.
Online
KYC meaning crypto
Identity verification for cryptocurrency gambling sites.
Online
Wagering requirement
The number of times a bonus must be bet before winnings can be withdrawn.
Sources
- Remote Gaming Services mga.org.mt Provides the official fee structure, game types, and definition of a licensable game under the MGA framework.
- FAQs mga.org.mt Lists the full range of gaming services covered by an MGA licence.
- Rank Interactive (Gibraltar) Limited - Licence summary gamblingcommission.gov.uk Used to distinguish the UK remote gambling licence from the MGA licence.
- Remote casino operating licence gamblingcommission.gov.uk Further clarifies the UK remote casino operating licence as a separate regime.
Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.