MGA Cancels BIB Limited License after Failure to Comply

The Malta Gaming Authority has finally canceled the license of Bet It Best parent company BIB Limited. The company was originally issued a notice of failings in December, but BIB Limited assured the regulator it would rectify the breaches, and asked for an extension to work through the issues.

BIB Misses Chance to Make Good with MGA

The MGA granted the request but several months later, the regulator has been forced to cancel the company’s license altogether. BIB did not succeed in making the necessary changes that would have allowed it to remain operational. The authority stated:

Following submissions made, the Authorized Person was granted an extended time period within which it could rectify the breaches outlined in the Notice and regularize its position at law. The Authorized Person, however, failed to do so within the stipulated time period.

MGA

BIB Limited will now have to suspend operation with immediate effect and settle all payments as per MGA’s cancellation rules. Originally, BIB launched its business in 2017 and said it had been granted the world’s first sports brokerage permit, obtaining a Type 3 Gaming License from the MGA at the time.

Bet It Best CEO Nico Jasen argued that the move was pivotal and that it enabled sports betting companies to pursue a brand new vertical that would prove pivotal for the future of betting services. Five years later, MGA has deemed the company’s operations to be not up to the required standard and thus enforcing the move.

Malta was recently removed from FATF’s grey list, an international compendium of jurisdictions that are considered safe for doing business and upholding the highest AML and CTF standards. The country still has some way to go in ensuring that its laws and regulations are up to the highest standard after a former MGA compliance officer lost his license on multiple charges.