With reference to the Notice of Cancellation (hereinafter the ‘Notice’) dated 22 December 2021 issued by the Malta Gaming Authority (‘Authority’) in accordance with Article 52 (e) of the Gaming Act (Cap. 583 of the Laws of Malta) (hereinafter the ‘Act’) BIB Limited (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Authorised Person’) was provided with a twenty-day time period within which it had the right to show cause ‘why the Authority should not proceed with the enforcement measure highlighted by said Notice in accordance with reg. 10 (1) (a) of the Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations (S.L. 583.06) (hereinafter the ‘Regulations’).
Following submissions made, the Authorised Person was granted an extended time-period within which it could rectify the breaches outlined in the Notice and regularise its position at law. The Authorised Person, however, failed to do so within the stipulated time-period.
In light of the above, the Authority is hereby notifying the Authorised Person in terms of the first proviso to Reg. 12 of the Regulations that pursuant to the Notice, the Authorisation bearing the number ‘MGA/B2C/343/2016’ (hereinafter the ‘Authorisation’) shall be cancelled in accordance with Reg. 10 (1) (a) of the Regulations.
The foregoing decision to cancel the Authorisation has been taken pursuant to the grounds mentioned in the aforementioned Notice.
Further to the foregoing, the Authorised Person is hereby being directed to:
- Suspend all gaming operations with immediate effect and stop operating in Malta insofar as the operations under contention are licensable under the Act and the subsidiary legislation promulgated thereunder.
- Submit all outstanding reporting requirements within not later than five (5) working days from issuance of this letter.
- Settle any Outstanding Dues as previously set out in the Notice within a period of seven (7) working days from the date of issuance of this letter.
- Remove, with immediate effect any reference to the Authority and the Authorisation in accordance with Art. 51 of the Act.
Without prejudice to the conditions that must be adhered to by the Authorised Person with immediate effect and any other deadline referred to above, the Authorised Person shall comply with the above listed actions by not later than seven (7) days from the date of publication of this Cancellation of Authorisation.
The Authorised Person shall remain liable for all applicable obligations emanating from the Act and any other applicable regulatory instrument.
The Authorised Person has a right to appeal before the Administrative Review Tribunal in terms of article 43 of the Gaming Act within twenty (20) days from the date of service of this Cancellation of Authorisation should it feel aggrieved by its contents.