Board of Governors

Members of the Board of Governors are appointed by the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services & Digital Economy. The Board of Governors is primarily responsible for overseeing the strategic development of the Authority and ensuring that the set policy and strategic objectives are achieved. The Board is also responsible for policy development, overall risk management and is also consulted by Government on policy matters.

The Board of Governors is currently composed of the following persons:

Chairperson - Ryan Pace
Chief Executive Officer - Carl Brincat
Caesar Grech
Carmen Ciantar
Juliana Scerri Ferrante
Roberto Francalanza
Ruth Trapani Galea Feriol
Board Secretary - Adrian Caruana

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee, is primarily responsible for the execution of the Authority’s overall strategic vision, as directed by the Board of Governors. It is responsible for the day-to-day operation and management functions of the MGA as well as the implementation of the Authority’s programmes and policies.

The MGA’s Executive Committee is made up of the following members:

Carl is the Chief Executive Officer at the MGA. Carl is a lawyer by profession and previously held the role of Chief Legal & Enforcement Officer within the MGA. Following three years of training in the field of criminal law, he joined the MGA’s legal team and has been a part of it for over six years, forming part of the strategic direction of the Authority and its high-level regulatory Committees for the past four. Carl sits on the Board of the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit, and is a member of the Chamber of Advocates (Malta), the International Masters of Gaming law (IMGL), and the International Association of Gambling Regulators (IAGR), and has also been a regular speaker in local and international conferences relating to gaming and international regulatory issues.

 

Christopher Formosa is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer & Chief Operations Officer at the MGA. As Deputy CEO, Christopher will take on the responsibilities of the CEO in the latter’s absence, to ensure continuity for the Authority at all times. In his role as Chief Operations Officer, Christopher is responsible for the overall management and development of the Human Resources function with a focus on maintaining an employee-oriented, high performance culture which emphasises quality, productivity, and goal attainment including the ongoing training and development of the Authority’s employees. Moreover, Christopher is responsible for facilities management, health & safety and security, all internal and external communications, as well as public and media relations. He is also responsible for the Inspectorate Operations Department and the Intelligence Department.

Christopher started his career as an Executive Secretary within a local council.  He was then appointed Head of Operations with the CHOGM Malta 2015 Taskforce within the Office of the Prime Minister where he was directly involved in the different functions and activities of the Task Force both at planning and execution stage.  He was also selected as the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Forum organising Committee where he was responsible for the coordination of the local team, which involved planning all the logistical arrangements associated with the forum.

Christopher holds a Master of Arts Degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of York.

Rebekah Duca is the Chief Officer Regulatory at the MGA. She joined the Authority in 2011, as a Licensee Relationship Executive and then proceeded to occupy the positions of Systems and Financial Auditor, Authorisations Manager and Head of Regulatory Supervision and Compliance prior to being appointed Chief Officer Compliance. Currently she holds the position of Chief Officer Regulatory. Rebekah heads the Authorisations, Player Support, Compliance & Anti-Money Laundering, Regulatory Supervision, Risk, Criminal Probity Screening, and Sports Betting Integrity departments. She is also a member of the Supervisory Council, Commercial Communications Committee and the Fit & Proper Committee within the MGA.

Rebekah holds a Bachelor Degree in Science (Business and Computing) and a Master in Business Administration (e-business) from the University of Malta. She is also a Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) and has served as a member of the Board of the Malta Chapter of ISACA for six years where she is the current president.

Peter Spiteri is the Chief Officer – Finance & Programme Management at the MGA. Peter is an ACCA qualified accountant with almost 10 years’ experience in the finance sector. He started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked in the Corporate Administration Services department. He then moved to Deutsche Bank (Malta) as Head of Finance, where he was responsible for the overall finance function in Malta. At the MGA, he is responsible for the overall finance function of the Authority namely, revenue assurance, tax compliance, corporate finance, treasury, financial planning and control, management accounts and reporting, as well as procurement. He is also responsible for the programme management and quality functions as well as for the overall knowledge and strategic information management of the Authority. Peter is also responsible for the Regulatory Systems department.

Audit Committee

The role of the Audit Committee is to assist the Board of Governors of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) in ensuring good corporate governance, risk management, oversight of audit/accounting issues and internal controls. Furthermore, the Audit Committee oversees the accounting and reporting processes, the audits of the financial statements, internal audits and internal control systems.

The Audit Committee is authorised to conduct investigations into any matters falling within the scope of its responsibility. The Secretary is responsible for the preparation of the Audit Committee’s agenda in consultation with the Chairman of the Audit Committee and for ensuring that follow ups and actions emanating from the Audit Committee are executed. The Secretary also presents reports to the Committee for discussion and action.

Chairperson - Dean Hili
Kevin Agius
Ruth Trapani Galea Feriol
Marita Pace Dimech
Audit Committee Secretary - Lindsey Gambin

Supervisory Council

The Supervisory Council set up by the Authority’s Board of Governors, has been set up to supervise and review the regulatory objectives of the MGA in the exercise of its functions. The Supervisory Council is responsible for ensuring the integrity, consistency and development of the regulatory functions of the MGA. It is also tasked with providing oversight and guidance in relation to ongoing regulatory issues, strategic regulation and act as an advisory committee to the Authority’s Board and management.

The Supervisory Council is made up of the following members:

Chairperson - Rebekah Duca
Christabel Calleja
Brandon Debattista
Katrina Pace Bonici Mompalao
Zachary Sciberras - Secretary

Fit and Proper Committee

The Fit and Proper Committee has been set up by the Authority’s Board to assess and determine whether applicants for a Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) Licence are fit and proper persons, (especially from a criminal probity aspect), to be granted a gaming licence and be authorised to conduct gaming business activities. This committee  decides which entities and personnel should be screened, when to conduct enhanced due diligence, and whether or not existent licensees should continue to conduct gaming business under the Malta licence. It is also tasked with recommending changes in the policies and procedures regarding the fit and properness of operators and individuals, recommend enforcement actions where it deems necessary and also turn down approval requests. The Fit and Proper Committee also evaluates and determines any changes in the risk assessment of licensed operators and may impose licence conditions at its own discretion.

Compliance & Enforcement Committee

The Compliance and Enforcement Committee was set up in  July 2019 and is primarily responsible for evaluating breaches of the Gaming Act (Chapter 583 of the Laws of Malta) and the regulatory instruments issued thereunder. The Committee is composed of seven members pertaining to different directorates of the Authority, to reflect the various issues which are escalated for the consideration of the Committee. The examination of breaches by the Committee is carried out in accordance with the Guiding Principles for the Application of Enforcement Measures, in order to ensure that enforcement measures are imposed in an appropriate and proportionate manner.