The Malta Gaming Authority has recently published a set of guidelines pertaining to the technical infrastructure, hosting gaming and control systems, which is used by remote gaming licensees. These technical infrastructure guidelines have been published following a public consultation exercise carried out by the remote gaming industry with respect to the use of cloud solutions and an assessment of the feedback by the MGA.
The technical infrastructure guidelines have been published with the aim of updating the Authority’s approach in implementing its procedures and regulatory requirements, specifically with regard to the technical infrastructure, and are intended to be used by operators, licensees, service providers and stakeholders, and provide such with guidance and clarifications as to the compliance objectives of the Authority when it is evaluating the technical setup of an applicant or licensee.
Intended to provide the much needed flexibility for applicants and licensees to benefit from the advancement of technology, including the use of cloud solutions, the technical infrastructure guidelines also ensure that the Authority has enough supervision over the gaming and control system of an operator, thus safeguarding the players together with the regulatory interests of the Authority. The use of technological environment having the required level of security and data integrity is focused upon, thereby affording to the Malta Gaming Authority timely access to all the regulatory data needed in order to safeguard its position in conducting its supervisory role and functions, both at a pre-licensing and post-licensing stage. This approach also affords to the MGA the faculty to carry out regular inspections, audits and investigations.
Ultimately, the MGA does also recognise that each setup might be unique and might also comprise various sets of complexities and a varying level of risk. It is in light of this that the MGA has retained the right to request further information than that established in the technical infrastructure guidelines and to require specific adaptations in order to comply with the regulations in force.
