MGA’s Top Legal Advisor Resigns, Moves to Private Sector

The Malta Gaming Authority has been making a lot of changes at the top this year and the latest one is the departure of Dr Yanica Sant, the regulator’s top legal advisor. Sant will remain with the MGA until February 2022 and should continue to assist on various tasks so long as they do not represent a conflict of interest.

Sant Wants To Transfer to the Private Sector

Sant’s main reason why she chose to leave one of the world’s most reputable regulators in the iGaming industry is that she wants to move to the private sector. During the resignation period, Sant won’t be able to perform enforcement, regulatory, or inspectorate duties and won’t be a part of any MGA internal committee, effective immediately.

MGA praised her achievements over the years and stated that it wishes her all the best in what’s to come. The company also thanked her for all of her “invaluable contributions” over the last seven and a half years and ended by saying that she will continue to show the values that are proudly represented by the MGA.

Several Changes Were Made in 2021

This year has been full of developments for the MGA. At the start of the year, the company’s Board of Governors appointed Dr Carl Brincat as the new CEO. Before being named as the regulator’s CEO, Brincat, who is a lawyer by profession, worked as MGA’s chief legal & enforcement officer.

When the news hit the media, Brincat noted that it is a huge honor to be chosen to lead the MGA and that he’s proud of the work that the Authority has done in terms of lifting industry standards. As for the former CEO of the MGA, he was accused of conspiracy back in March.

After naming Brincat as the CEO of the organization, the MGA also selected another lawyer as its chairman. Ryan Pace was promoted to the said position in April and even though some supported the idea, an independent news outlet in Malta, The Shift, there were some that expressed concerns due to the fact that they thought that Pace didn’t have enough experience to be promoted and in doing so, the respect of the MGA would not be increased.

According to the outlet, MPs of the Nationalist Party, the opposition political party in Malta, Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, Claudette Buttigieg, and Karol Aquilina voted against his appointment.

MGA Is Looking to Crack Down on Illicit Gambling

The regulator is looking to increase its efforts in combating illicit gambling. It does that by cracking down on operators that have been breached its rules and didn’t meet its standards. It also performs regulatory framework revisions.

Back in October, the regulator added more suppliers to its rules on suspicious sports betting in order to address rising problems with malicious wagers and match-fixing.