MGA licence (Malta): register, complaints route and what an EU licence means in Germany

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is the gambling supervisor of the EU member state Malta and grants licences under the Gaming Act, Chapter 583 of the Laws of Malta. Among the gambling regulators whose names appear in the footers of online casinos, it differs from the authorities in Curaçao and Anjouan on one point in particular: it accepts complaint cases from players itself.

To check a Malta licence, the MGA provides three tools: the Licensee Register, the Enforcement Register and a list of unauthorised URLs. None of the four brands profiled here, namely Bizzo, KatsuBet, Posido and Neospin, cites a licence from Malta; they refer to Curaçao or Anjouan, and according to casino.guru Posido also to Estonia.

A licence from Malta is not a permit under the Interstate Treaty on Gambling 2021 (GlüStV 2021). Providers with a German permit are listed on the whitelist of the Joint Gambling Authority of the German States (GGL); a full-text search of the 02.10.2026 snapshot finds none of the four brands.

The MGA and the Gaming Act (Cap. 583)

The legal basis of supervision is the Gaming Act (Cap. 583). Directives and several regulations rest on it, among them the Gaming Authorisations Regulations, the Player Protection Regulations and the Gaming Commercial Communications Regulations (S.L. 583.09). According to its own homepage, the MGA takes enforcement action against licensees in accordance with the Gaming Act and the related directives and publishes it in the Enforcement Register.

The MGA divides its licence holders into two groups. B2C licensees offer a gaming service themselves, meaning games for end customers. B2B licence holders form the second group. For players, the B2C licence is therefore the one that matters: only it covers a casino where you hold an account and place stakes yourself.

The MGA prescribes mandatory information for licensees that helps with checking. Under the Gaming Commercial Communications Regulations, advertising must show, among other things, the licensee's name, the licence number, the minimum age and responsible gaming information. According to the MGA FAQ, the information on the website includes a responsible gaming notice and a dynamic seal, the so-called kite mark. The name and licence number from the advertising can be matched against the register.

Licensee Register and list of unauthorised URLs

The MGA Licensee Register can be searched by four criteria: the licensee name, the authorisation status, the URL and the gaming service. Searching by URL is the most direct route for players. If the casino's domain is listed under a licensee, the link between offer and licence is documented. If it is missing, the register does not document that link.

A name search looks not for the brand but for the licensee, meaning the company that holds the licence. One company can run several domains, and the same brand can change owner over the years. Which companies stand behind the brands profiled here and which domains the same operators run is collected in the overview of all known company names.

The list of unauthorised URLs complements the register from the other side. The MGA checks suspicious websites and publishes this list so that players are protected from misleading claims that a particular site holds an MGA licence. A seal or a number in the footer is therefore not proof on its own; what counts is the entry with the regulator. The Philippine PAGCOR issues a similar warning: it revoked all internet gaming licences as of 15.12.2024 and calls any website claiming a valid PAGCOR online licence unauthorised.

How matching a number works with the other authorities, which fields a register entry should show and which register is currently unavailable is explained in the guide to check a licence number with the registers of all four licence profiles.

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Complaints: Player Support Unit and ADR (20 days)

The MGA Player Support Unit (PSU) accepts complaint cases from all individuals, not only from residents of Malta. The condition is that the case concerns an MGA licensee acting unlawfully or running its offer in a way that is not safe, fair or transparent. The MGA recommends trying to settle the case with the operator first.

The formal channel is an online form. Cases are handled only in English or Maltese, so a submission in German is not enough. The form lists reasons such as problems with payments and withdrawals, bonus terms, identity verification (KYC) and the closure of an account.

Alongside the PSU there is alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Every MGA licensee must engage an ADR entity before its offer goes live. If the complaint to the operator brings no result, the player can turn to the PSU or to an ADR entity. If the ADR decides in the player's favour, the operator has 20 days to comply with the decision, according to the MGA FAQ.

1. OperatorFirst file the complaint with the licensee itself and wait for the answer.
2. Player Support UnitIf the case stays open, fill in the MGA form in English or Maltese.
3. ADR entityAlternatively, turn to the ADR entity the licensee had to engage before going live.
4. ComplianceIf the ADR decides for the player, the operator has 20 days to comply.

Malta, Curaçao and Anjouan compared

The Curaçao Gaming Authority does not mediate or decide disputes between players and providers and cannot order compensation. Since 07.10.2026 its online gaming portal has also been discontinued, so the OGL numbers that casino.guru lists for Bizzo and KatsuBet cannot currently be matched with the regulator. What the Curaçao licence covers after the LOK of 24.12.2024 is shown in its own profile.

Anjouan Gaming does not mediate either. There the route first runs through the complaint function in the operator's seal, with the operator required to answer within 30 calendar days, and then to an ADR in which licensees must take part and whose costs the operator bears. The Anjouan register can be searched by number, company and domain: Neospin is listed there with ALSI-202509073-FI2 until 29.09.2027, while the domain posido.com appears in no entry; according to the register, the number ALSI-202411077-FI2 belongs to Stellar Ltd.

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EU licence and German permit

There is no common EU licence for online gambling. The Estonian Tax and Customs Board (EMTA) states explicitly that there are no harmonised EU requirements and that a licence from another EEA country gives no right to offer gambling in Estonia. EMTA therefore issues its own licences: its list as of 01.10.2026 includes Estolio Limited with www.posido.com and Moon Technologies OÜ with www.bizzocasino.com under online games of chance. What the term EU licence in a casino footer actually says and how it relates to national permits is set out on the home page.

In Germany, the GGL has issued the permits for virtual slot games and online poker since 01.01.2023. Under § 4c GlüStV 2021, such a permit applies to all federal states, for five years when first granted and for seven years otherwise. A registered office in Malta does not rule it out: applicants must have their seat in an EU or EEA state and, without a seat in Germany, name an authorised recipient and representative there. The MGA licence does not replace this application, though. How the German GGL permit is granted and what a whitelist entry shows is described in the profile of the German licence.

For online casino games in the narrower sense, meaning banking games, the GGL is not responsible. Under § 22c GlüStV 2021, the federal states can run them for their own territory or grant concessions, and such a concession is limited to the territory of that state.

An offer with an MGA licence but no whitelist entry thus belongs to the casinos without a German licence; which licensors these providers cite and which rules are missing there is compared in the overview of offshore offers. A pending application changes nothing: according to the GGL, an offer remains without a permit until it has been examined, approved and added to the whitelist. For data protection reasons, the authorities do not say whether an application has been filed.

What a licence requires: B2C, B2B and security deposit

The question of what a casino licence costs concerns providers, not players. The MGA distinguishes B2C and B2B licences; the MGA sources evaluated name no fees.

For the German permit, by contrast, the Interstate Treaty names a fixed figure. A prerequisite is an unlimited directly enforceable bank guarantee from a credit institution in the EU or EEA of five million euros. It secures players' payout claims and state claims and can be raised up to the expected monthly turnover, to a maximum of 50 million euros. For virtual slot games, every single game also needs its own permit in advance.

Further requirements of the German permit include disclosure of owners and holdings above 5 per cent and the condition that no unauthorised gambling is offered within the group.