Recognition Notices

Recognition Notice Certificates are valid for one year and require annual maintenance reviews prior to the annual anniversary of the Recognition Notice. Recognition Notice holders are required to submit a new ’Recognition Notice Annual Maintenance’ application from the Online Services dropdown in the Licensee Portal. The application shall include the following information:

• Proof of payment with respect to the annual maintenance fee within the ‘Other Documents’ Enclosures section as a soft copy – this must include the Payment Reference Number which will be included in the confirmation stage of the application;
• A declaration signed by one of the Company’s director/s confirming the current list of directors, including their full name and surname, email, and phone number within the ‘List of Directors and the relevant Contact Details’ Enclosures section as a soft copy; and
• The latest list of domains through which the Gaming Service is offered to players within the ‘Other Documents’ section as a soft copy (required only in case of B2Cs).

The confirmation that no changes have been made to the original licence issued by the foreign jurisdiction will be confirmed through the payment of the Annual Licence fee, and the inclusion of the Payment Reference Number, acceptance of the application’s Terms and Conditions, and submission.

During the submission of the annual maintenance application, Recognition Notice holders are kindly asked to ensure that the information held on record is accurate and representative of the Recognition Notice Certificate holder. If discrepancies are observed between actual information and the information being displayed within the application, kindly refer to the following sections.

To apply for the addition of new Licence/s issued by a foreign jurisdiction, Recognition Notice holders are required to submit a ‘Changes to Recognition Notice Certificate’ application from the Online Services dropdown in the Licensee Portal. The Recognition Notice holder will be asked to look up the relevant Recognition Notice Certificate to proceed with the application. The application shall include the following information:

1. Any additional Licences held by the Recognition Notice holder are to be added by selecting ‘Add Recognition Notice Licence’;
2. A certified true copy of the original Gaming Licence, and a certified translation in English (where applicable); and
3. A legal opinion provided by a warranted professional proficient in the relevant jurisdiction and the applicant’s operations covering the following requirements:

• The territorial scope of the licence; meaning whether the licensed operations may be offered in jurisdictions other than that of the competent authority.
• Additionally, confirmation that the issuing foreign competent authority conducts compliance checks and whether such compliance checks are applicable to the entirety of the operation. Should different compliance checks be applicable to different operations (e.g. game vertical/game type), a description of the respective checks should be included;
• An assessment that the gaming services and/or critical gaming supplies which may be offered by virtue of the licence and in terms of the relevant jurisdictions’ framework, are equivalent to the respective licensable services established under Maltese Law*;
• The scope of the gaming services and/or critical gaming supplies which may be offered by virtue of the same licence, including a non-generic description of the products which should be comparable to the descriptions of the relevant game types and verticals under Maltese law;
• Confirmation that all gaming services and/or critical gaming supplies offered by the licensee are covered by the stated licence; and
• Confirmation that the AML/CFT framework of the licence-issuing country is applicable to the licensee, and that the licensee is duly bound to fulfil AML/CFT reporting requirements, complying with recognised EU AML Directives.

*Notwithstanding such assessment, the Authority reserves the right to confirm, or otherwise, the equivalence of the services being offered by virtue of the licence, to the respective licensable services established under Maltese Law.

In case of any changes to the Licence/s issued by a foreign jurisdiction such as but not limited to the Licence/s status, renewal certificates, gaming verticals/types offered, and the legal opinion provided to the MGA, Recognition Notice holders are required to submit a ‘Changes to Recognition Notice Certificate’ application from the Online Services dropdown in the Licensee Portal. The Recognition Notice holder will be asked to look up the relevant Recognition Notice Certificate to proceed with the application. The application shall include the following information:

1. The updated foreign Licence information by selecting the downward arrow at the end of the Licence record titled ‘Edit Recognition Notice Licence’;
2. A certified true copy of the original Gaming Licence, and a certified translation in English (where applicable); and
3. A legal opinion provided by a warranted professional proficient in the relevant jurisdiction and the applicant’s operations covering the following requirements:

• The territorial scope of the licence; meaning whether the licensed operations may be offered in jurisdictions other than that of the competent authority. Additionally, confirmation that the issuing foreign competent authority conducts compliance checks and whether such compliance checks are applicable to the entirety of the operation. Should different compliance checks be applicable to different operations (e.g. game vertical/game type), a description of the respective checks should be included;
• An assessment that the gaming services and/or critical gaming supplies which may be offered by virtue of the licence and in terms of the relevant jurisdictions’ framework, are equivalent to the respective licensable services established under Maltese Law*;
• The scope of the gaming services and/or critical gaming supplies which may be offered by virtue of the same licence, including a non-generic description of the products which should be comparable to the descriptions of the relevant game types and verticals under Maltese law;
• Confirmation that all gaming services and/or critical gaming supplies offered by the licensee are covered by the stated licence; and
• Confirmation that the AML/CFT framework of the licence-issuing country is applicable to the licensee, and that the licensee is duly bound to fulfil AML/CFT reporting requirements, complying with recognised EU AML Directives.

*Notwithstanding such assessment, the Authority reserves the right to confirm, or otherwise, the equivalence of the services being offered by virtue of the licence, to the respective licensable services established under Maltese Law.

In case of any changes to Company details, Recognition Notice holders are required to submit a ‘Changes to Recognition Notice Certificate’ application from the Online Services dropdown in the Licensee Portal. The Recognition Notice holder will be asked to look up the relevant Recognition Notice Certificate to proceed with the application. The application shall include the following information:

1. Updated Company details by selecting ‘Edit Entity Declaration Form’, whereby the Recognition Notice holder will be able to amend the relevant fields within the Entity Declaration Form; and
2. A signed Entity Declaration form available from the Enclosures section of the Application and submitted to the Authority as a hard copy.

In case of any changes to Directors, Recognition Notice holders are required to submit a ‘Changes to Recognition Notice Certificate’ application from the Online Services dropdown in the Licensee Portal. The Recognition Notice holder will be asked to look up the relevant Recognition Notice Certificate to proceed with the application. The application shall include a soft-copy declaration signed by one of the Directors, including the list of Directors and the relevant Contact Details (specifying full name, contact number & e-mail address).

In case of any changes to the list of URLs/Domains through which the Gaming Service is offered to players, Recognition Notice holders are required to submit a ‘Changes to Recognition Notice Certificate’ application from the Online Services dropdown in the Licensee Portal. The Recognition Notice holder will be asked to look up the relevant Recognition Notice Certificate to proceed with the application, and select ‘Edit Recognition Notice Licence’ pertaining to the relevant foreign Licence. Following this, the Recognition Notice holder shall proceed to the Domains section of the Recognition Notice Licence form, and edit existing domains or add any new domains accordingly.