Malta Gaming Authority Review Flags Improvements Needed In Self Exclusion Systems

The Malta Gaming Authority released results of a 2025 thematic review examining how online B2C licensees apply self exclusion and responsible gambling protections across their platforms.

Good to Know

• Review covered 20 licensees and 58 active gaming websites.
• Mystery shopping formed part of the assessment process.
• Regulator requested corrective action plans where weaknesses appeared.

Investigation followed reports that some players who self excluded due to problem gambling were still able to access other brands within the same operator networks. Assessment focused on how protections function in practice rather than how they appear on paper.

Regulatory teams tested onboarding flows, exclusion requests, and account controls through simulated player activity. That approach allowed evaluators to observe real time responses to self exclusion, identity matching, and responsible gambling messaging.

Findings showed that most operators generally aligned with regulatory expectations, indicating a solid baseline of compliance. At the same time, several operational weaknesses surfaced that could reduce the effectiveness of safeguards if left unresolved.

Delays in activating exclusion requests appeared in some cases, creating short windows where access remained possible. Review also identified situations where exclusions were lifted without applying a required cooling off period, raising concerns about consistency in enforcement.

Systems designed to detect duplicate or closely matched customer identities across brands did not always function effectively, making cross brand access harder to prevent. Some platforms also failed to display limit setting prompts during registration or delivered incomplete information through Reality Check notifications.

The Authority communicated findings directly to affected licensees and asked for remediation plans addressing each gap. Supervisory teams will continue monitoring implementation of corrective measures as part of ongoing engagement.

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