Leeds-based online gambling operator Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) has applied for a Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) license ahead of the UK operator’s planned launch into Germany’s online sports betting market.
On Wednesday, the MGA announced that it had received SBG’s formal application for a local sports betting license. SBG, which already holds licenses issued by regulatory agencies in the UK, Alderney and Italy, plans to begin accepting German sports bettors via SkyBet.de later this year.
MGA exec chairman Joseph Cuschieri said SBG’s interest in a Malta license reflected the high value that “world leading brands” like SBG place on Malta’s “reputation as a gaming jurisdiction.”
The MGA also announced regulatory data covering the first four months of 2017, during which the MGA received 59 applications, representing a 79% increase over the same period last year. The MGA issued 36 licenses over this span, one-third more than last year.
The number of administrative fines the MGA has levied against its licensees is also up from nine last year to 14 so far in 2017, while the number of terminated or cancelled licenses fell from 20 to 12.
The MGA has so far suspended only one license, down from two last year, although the MGA also suspended the license of Sunderlands Online Limited on May 19. The MGA declined to explain why Sunderlands was taken to the woodshed, saying it didn’t want to “compromise any investigations that may need to be performed” in the wake of the suspension.
PURPLE LOUNGE LEFT CUSTOMERS BLACK & BLUE
Meanwhile, the long dead ghost of a former Malta-licensed site has been reanimated by an investor looking to crowd-fund a class action lawsuit. Steven Egan, a former “substantial” shareholder in the AIM-listed Media Corporation Plc, is looking to raise £1k via Crowdjustice.com to fund a lawsuit over the demise of online gambling site Purple Lounge.
Purple Lounge, which was licensed by the MGA’s predecessor, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA), shut down abruptly in 2012, taking the deposited funds of thousands of players with it. Egan claims “millions of pounds” was stolen by Media Corp’s former directors and he’s hoping to raise enough cash to fund a civil action to compel the thieves to fork over their ill-gotten gains.
Sadly, Egan’s campaign has so far raised exactly £0, but the deadline for contributing isn’t until June 29, so lots of time remains for Purple Lounge’s former customers to throw good money after bad.
