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Suppliers Now Part of MGA's Suspicious Betting Reporting Code
By Jeff Osienya Oct 07, 2021 IndustryThe sports betting integrity department of the Malta Gaming Authority, Malta’s gaming oversight body, has refreshed its suspicious betting reporting requirements. The rules for reporting suspicious activity are now applicable to suppliers.The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), one of the most reputable gaming regulatory bodies in the European region, has amended its code for reporting suspicious betting activity. MGA’s department of sports betting integrity announced last week that it had updated its Suspicious Betting Requirements, and the new changes took effect on October 1st.
Among the introduced amendments, the most notable one is that the suspicious betting reporting code is now applicable to suppliers. The said update means that the suppliers who work with sports wagering operators are now required to follow the same rules as operators. So, suppliers are expected to notify the MGA of any form of suspicious betting activity the same way operators do.
Further, MGA’s sports betting integrity department is tasked with informing all licensees about any betting activity deemed suspicious in relation to the sporting event the licensees are promoting. Of course, this reporting will occur without disclosing the source of the suspicious betting information.
An official statement on MGA’s web portal reads:
Quote“The Authority has revised the Suspicious Betting Reporting Requirements, and commencing from 1 October 2021 the requirements now include licensees that offer a critical gaming supply relating to betting on sports events. This means that now, both licensees that offer a gaming service and/or a critical gaming supply relating to betting on sports events must notify the Authority of any instance relating to suspicious betting.”
A Significant Stride in Safeguarding the Integrity of Sports Betting
Through the new changes, the MGA hopes that it will nurture a more informed betting sector in Malta with more effective monitoring of integrity threats such as match-fixing and malicious wagers. Malta’s gaming ombudsman also expected the updated rules to facilitate a more holistic review and evaluation of the risks faced by the Maltese sports betting sector.
In its briefing, the MGA reiterated its commitment to fostering sports betting integrity by saying:
Quote“One of the Malta Gaming Authority’s commitments is to take a proactive approach in managing sports betting integrity with the aim of addressing the threats posed by match-fixing and malicious sports betting. In this regard, the Authority’s Sports Betting Integrity department continuously seeks ways of improving monitoring and reporting capabilities across the wider Maltese sports betting sector.”
MGA’s latest move strengthens the regulator’s Sports Integrity Unity (SUI) that was launched back in 2019 to ramp up its efforts and resources dedicated to preventing manipulating sporting events. The main objective of the SUI is to gather intelligence and suspicious betting information and liaise with both local and international operators, regulators, law enforcement bodies, and betting monitoring systems to investigate the suspicious activity.
More Suspicious Betting Reporting Tools & Regulations Introduced by MGA
In May 2020, the Malta gaming watchdog unveiled a set of suspicious betting requirements to inform licensees on how they are expected to report any suspicious betting activity. Part of the guidelines includes describing the markets where the suspicious activity has taken place, the country of origin, and even the account where the suspicious betting activity occurred.
Further, licensees are required to offer the MGA information about the time when the wagers were placed and list all bodies that have received notification of the potential breach. Evidence that supports why the activity is deemed suspicious should also be submitted to the MGA upon reporting.
Come November 2020, the MGA unveiled its Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism (SBRM) to all B2C operators that carry its license. At that time, the obligation for operators under the MGA license to report suspicious betting activity had not been brought to force. However, operators who already had suspicious activity to report were instructed to start using the SBRM when it was launched. In addition, all B2C operators received an SBRM manual to navigate the new system whenever they saw the need.
At the beginning of this year, reporting suspicious betting activity formally became an obligation for all B2C operators licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority. However, before making this a mandatory duty for operators, the MGA had released an integrity consultation paper touching on the new integrity control mechanisms it was planning to introduce. The paper was overwhelmingly supported by 10 betting operators, international bodies, and representative institutes.
With the most recent amendments to its regulations, suppliers of licensed MGA operators are now required to use the same handbook. They have an obligation to report suspicious betting activity and use the SBRM guidelines as all licensees do.
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