Key Official
The Key Official must be:
Resident in Malta: This requires an element of physical presence in Malta. Residency is not defined in the regulations; however the Authority interprets this requirement in the context of the Key Official (KO) responsibilities and expects a KO to be readily available in Malta to fulfill all duties and legal requirements
A director of the gaming company: As a KO, he/she is also assuming responsibilities of a director. Although Maltese company legislation does not define the juridical nature of the company director it does stipulate that the directors of the company shall promote its well-being and shall be responsible for the general governance, proper administration and management of the company and the general supervision of its affairs
Knowledgeable about pertinent laws and regulations: Apart from the remote gaming regulations and Companies Act there is other legislation that could impact the conduct of the operations of the licensee including Data Protection Act, Prevention of Money Laundering Act, eCommerce legislation
Responsibilities of the Key Official
The KO responsibilities include the following:
- Ensuring that the remote gaming system is set up and maintained in accordance with the remote gaming regulations and any licence conditions imposed by the LGA
- Participating and assisting in the certification process (stage three of the licence application process) conducted by the LGA
- Submission of periodic financial, administrative, data and record returns and reports to the LGA. These include:
- Preparation of incident reports to report uncontrolled incidents within 24 hours
- Preparation of notification reports to submit to and seek LGA approval prior to effecting any critical changes to the gaming infrastructure, core system modules, gaming operation, rules of the games, terms and conditions and games portfolio
- Preparation of monthly player and gaming data reports and reconciliation of monthly player balances in the gaming system to the players’ bank account
- Preparation of six monthly management accounts
- Submission of the annual audited financial statements
- Payment of monthly gaming tax and annual gaming licence fee within time frames stipulated
- Monitoring adherence to the provisions of remote gaming and other pertinent legislation
Related Information
Malta’s remote gaming regulations provide for the appointment of a KO who is broadly described as the ‘guardian’ of the remote gaming licence held by the licensee. This should be considered in view of his/her responsibilities that include the obligation to supervise the operations of the licensee and ensure that the licence holder complies with all applicable laws and regulations and any directives issued by the Authority.
The KO is the primary and sole contact between the LGA and the licensee. In fact the LGA recognises only the KO as the liaison with the licensee and effects all communication through the KO.
A well implemented and executed KO role can turn out to be a value added role that ensures integrity, accountability and compliance on the part of the licensee, rather than an administrative burden.
It is evident that the extent of responsibility involved requires a licensee to give serious thought and consideration to the appointment of the KO.
RSM Malta has a unit specifically dedicated to providing key official services to licence holders. Interested parties should contact us immediatly.