MGA and UKGC strengthen their relationship: These are the potential partnerships for MGA

The online casino industry has become an international phenomenon. Gone are the days when each country had its own secluded gambling systems and games. Even if every country does regulate gambling more or less in its own way, the industry itself has spread everywhere with people around the world enjoying many of the same games and casinos.

In a world where players from different countries share their gambling together, it only makes sense that regulation also becomes more unified. In this article, we discuss the new partnership between the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission and other potential new partnerships that we could also see in the coming years.

MGA and UKGC are coming together

The Malta Gaming Authority (or MGA for short) was established already in 2001 when online casino gambling was still in its infancy. The authority’s purpose was to regulate multiple gaming industry sectors and to make sure that online casinos act in as fair and transparent a manner as possible. At the same time, MGA was also tasked with preventing unlawful activities such as money laundering, corruption, and other criminal activity.

The UK Gambling Commission, on the other hand, came to be in 2005. Much like the MGA, the UKGC has been tasked with trying to keep the space safe and secure for gamblers. However, while the MGA governs and focuses on many jurisdictions, the UKGC is solely focused on the players in the UK.

On October 24th 2024, the MGA announced on its website that it was going to strengthen its regulatory ties with the UK Gambling Commission. This was to be done through something called a Memorandum of Understanding or MoU.

In short, the new agreement is in place to enhance the exchange of information between the two regulators. In other words, one could compare this partnership to local law enforcement in the US collaborating with the FBI as well as international agencies to make sure that potential unlawful activity can be more easily detected. With more eyes on the market sharing information, the two regulators can build a better consensus on what is going on at any given time.

MGA and potential new partnerships

Some could say that the UKGC and MGA strengthening their relationship is a long time coming. For years, these two regulators have been mostly separated and working independently. Now that the so-called floodgates are open, however, it is to be expected that the MGA could be looking to continue its networking ambitions even further.

One potential new partnership for MGA could be found in Finland.

Finnish online casino market in flux

Ever since shortly after the Second World War, Finland has had a state-run gambling monopoly in place. However, with the advent of the internet, more and more Finnish people have decided to take their gaming online and outside of the physical Finnish border. The website Verovapaatnettikasinot has been one popular online destination for Finns looking for tax-free online casinos from either Malta or Estonia. In fact, over the years, online casinos have become so popular in Finland that the Finnish government has finally decided to abolish its monopoly and open its market for competition.

The Finnish government has announced that it will begin its regulation at the very beginning of 2027. When this happens, Finland will have its own licensing system as well as a new Finnish licensing authority. Chances are that this new authority will also be open to working together with existing regulators such as the time-tested Malta Gaming Authority.

A collaboration between the new Finnish gaming authority and the MGA would undoubtedly help the budding new Finnish gambling ecosystem to get right on its feet, whereas the MGA would greatly benefit from local Finnish intel and resources.

Conclusion

As we already noted in the intro of this article, the online casino industry has greatly matured from the start of its tenure somewhere in the mid-90s. Sometimes, the law and regulations have a bit of catching up to do when it comes to modern technology, but now things and policies in the online gambling industry certainly seem to be more up-to-date than some 30 years ago.

It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the MGA and the new Finnish gambling authorities to announce a similar partnership as the one between the MGA and the UKGC.