Malta Gaming Authority publishes sports betting integrity thematic review on monitoring, escalation and controls
The Malta Gaming Authority on October 27 published findings from a thematic review of sports betting integrity monitoring, escalation and controls among licensees that had filed few or no Suspicious Betting Reports. Low reporting volumes often reflected proactive risk limits rather than weak monitoring, the Authority said, while calling for clearer escalation documentation and consistent reporting under the MGA licence.
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Overview
- On October 27, 2026 the Malta Gaming Authority published findings from its thematic review “Sports Betting Integrity: Monitoring, Escalation and Controls”.
- The review focused on Authorised Persons that had submitted few or no Suspicious Betting Reports since those requirements were introduced.
- Work ran through Supervisory Meetings and Reviews on a B2B and B2C sample; findings are anonymised and aggregated. The review period was Q2–Q4 2025, with analysis afterwards.
- Low reporting volumes were not necessarily inadequate monitoring; many reflected restrictive betting limits and removal of high-risk events such as some youth competitions.
- Some multi-jurisdiction licensees wrongly thought patterns under foreign licences need not be reported under the MGA when the same market and players sit under an MGA licence; the Authority clarified they must report under MGA rules.
What the Malta Gaming Authority found
Many Authorised Persons relied on external integrity monitoring bodies, with internal investigations often starting only after third-party alerts. Good practices included real-time monitoring, collaboration between risk and compliance teams, safeguards against athletes and sports personnel placing prohibited bets, early removal of high-risk events, and multi-layer risk assessment.
Areas for improvement included documenting internal escalation and the Key Compliance Function’s role, pairing systems with human oversight, ensuring consistent understanding of reporting obligations, setting out a detection-to-reporting workflow, and submitting Suspicious Betting Reports on time.
The MGA will use the findings for future guidance and supervisory priorities. Contact sportsintegrity.mga@mga.org.mt; address Building SCM 02-03, Level 4, SmartCity Malta, Ricasoli SCM1001.
The integrity-reporting theme echoes Ontario’s PointsBet settlement over suspicious-betting monitoring. Separately, the MGA recently signed a player-protection MoU with Malta’s consumer authority.
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Andrea Rivera explores the evolving world of iGaming through the companies trying new things and the markets taking shape around them. An editor at AskSpinner News, Andrea combines research with storytelling, bringing information and perspective to industry analysis without losing the story that makes it worth reading.
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