MGA casinos: how the Malta Gaming Authority licence works

What is an MGA licence?

An MGA licence is a gambling licence from the Malta Gaming Authority, the body that regulates gambling in Malta. The authority was set up in 2001 as the Lotteries and Gaming Authority and has been called the Malta Gaming Authority since 2015. Because Malta is a member of the EU, an MGA licence is a licence from an EU country.

The licence is based on Malta’s Gaming Act, which came into force in 2018. Casinos that offer games directly to players need a B2C (business-to-consumer) licence, while suppliers of critical services to casinos, such as games and gaming systems, need a B2B (business-to-business) licence. Only companies established in an EU or EEA country can apply. To see how the other licences work, read our guide to casino licences.

Four game types

The MGA sorts games into four types, and each licence states which types the company may offer. Type 1 covers games against the house where a random number generator decides the outcome, such as roulette, blackjack and other casino games. Type 2 covers fixed-odds betting on the result of a sports event or another event. Type 3 covers games where players play against each other and the company takes a fee, such as poker, bingo and betting exchanges. Type 4 covers controlled skill games: skill games that the MGA has ruled it will regulate.

A casino that also offers fixed-odds betting needs Type 2 as well as Type 1. The page behind its seal shows which types are approved.

How long does an MGA licence last?

An MGA licence normally runs for ten years at a time, both when it is first issued and when it is renewed. The rules allow shorter terms in some cases, and the MGA can suspend, cancel or revoke a licence at any time during the term if the company breaks the rules. By comparison, the new gambling law for Gibraltar casinos sets no fixed term.

What the licence requires of a casino

Players’ money must be kept separate from the casino’s own funds. Under Maltese rules, that money belongs to the player, and the casino’s creditors have no claim on it, even if the casino goes bankrupt. The casino must also sign up with an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body before it goes live. It must display its licence details and the MGA seal on its site, and use only the web addresses the MGA has approved.

On top of that, the casino must be able to show the MGA that it keeps minors from playing and protects vulnerable players. It must give players tools to control their gambling and the information they need about the games, about responsible gambling and about how to complain. Its marketing must also be fair.

Where is Malta?

Malta is an island country in the Mediterranean, a little over 90 km south of Sicily. It is made up of three inhabited islands, Malta, Gozo and Comino, and its capital, Valletta, lies about 2,200 km from Copenhagen as the crow flies. Malta joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and uses the euro.

So we count an MGA licence as an EU licence. If you are looking for casinos licensed elsewhere in the EU or EEA, see our page about them.

The MGA’s registers and seal in detail

The MGA licensee register includes the URL Checker. Type all or part of a casino’s web address, and it shows the licensed company, the approved web address and a link to the page behind the company’s seal. If it can’t find the address, it replies “URL not found in Licensee database”, which means the address isn’t registered under an MGA licence.

What the page behind the seal shows

The page behind the seal shows the company’s name and address, the licence number, the licence type, the approved game types and the licence status. It also lists the web addresses the MGA has approved. If the web address you are playing on isn’t on that list, the licence doesn’t cover that site. Check the page’s own address as described in step 2, because a fake seal can look just like the real one.

The number doesn’t always show the licence type. LeoVegas’s number contains CRP, not B2C (MGA/CRP/237/2013), but the page behind its seal shows a B2C licence. To see how the MGA register compares with the registers behind other licences, use our casino licence comparison.

Sanctions against casinos

The MGA keeps an enforcement register listing suspended (temporarily stopped), cancelled and revoked licences with the date and the grounds. Goldwin Ltd, for example, had its licence suspended in September 2024, on grounds that included an imminent threat to players’ interests, and the licence was cancelled in March 2025. In the Goldwin case, the company still had to give players access to their accounts and pay out their balances. A suspension is temporary, while a cancelled or revoked licence ends for good.

Fake MGA licences

The MGA also keeps a list of hundreds of websites that wrongly claim to hold an MGA licence. According to the MGA, such a claim is “false and misleading”, and the MGA has no connection with those sites. The authority behind the Kahnawake licence also warns against sites that falsely claim to be regulated by it.

The MGA licence and players in Denmark

An EU licence is not a Danish licence

Even though Malta is in the EU, a casino with an MGA licence is not allowed to offer gambling in Denmark without a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden). EU countries can decide for themselves how to regulate gambling, as long as their rules are justified and proportionate to their aim, and Denmark has chosen its own licensing system.

The Danish Gambling Act makes it an offence to offer gambling without a Danish licence, and the same applies to others too, for example anyone who seeks to make a living from unlicensed gambling. We have not come across any rule that penalises ordinary players for taking part. What this means for you is covered on our page about casinos with no Danish licence.

Several MGA-licensed groups also hold Danish licences

A large share of the online casinos on the Danish Gambling Authority’s list of licensed operators have an address in Malta, and several big gambling groups hold both an MGA licence and a Danish licence. A Maltese address alone doesn’t prove an MGA licence, though. Nor does a .dk ending decide whether a site has a Danish licence, because a Danish licence can cover .com addresses too. So search that list for the exact web address you play on. We show how to find the newest companies on that list under new casinos with a Danish licence.

Three well-known casinos with an MGA licence

Instead, we checked three well-known brands on the pages behind their MGA seals and on the Danish Gambling Authority’s list on 3 November 2026.

• LeoVegas: LeoVegas Gaming plc holds MGA licence MGA/CRP/237/2013, with the status “Licensed”, for sites including leovegas.com and expekt.com. The same company is on the Danish list with leovegas.com, leovegas.dk and expekt.dk.
• ComeOn: Heliopsis Limited holds MGA licence MGA/CRP/178/2009-19, with the status “Licensed”, for sites including comeon.com and getlucky.com. On the Danish list, Syreni Limited appears with comeon.com, comeon.dk, casinostuen.dk, getlucky.com and getlucky.dk.
• Betsson: Rizk Nordic Limited holds MGA licence MGA/B2C/959/2022, with the status “Licensed”, for betsson.com, nordicbet.com, betsafe.com and casinoeuro.com. On the Danish list, Nordic Spil Limited appears with betsson.dk and nordicbet.dk.

For ComeOn and Betsson, the MGA licence and the Danish licence are held by different companies. For LeoVegas, it is the same company.

MGA and Malta casino bonuses

None of the nine casinos in our selection holds an MGA licence, so the offers on our cards are not MGA bonuses. If a casino does hold one, there are clear requirements for how it must describe a bonus.

Welcome bonuses at MGA casinos

Malta’s rules on gaming marketing say a bonus offer must not mislead. Among other things, the casino must:

• Make clear what you have to do to get the offer.
• Show wagering and deposit requirements prominently, with examples you can understand.
• Get your agreement to the terms before you join, and keep them easy to find.
• Let you follow your progress towards the requirements.

In a digital advert, the key information must be no more than one click away. The rules are about information, and we have not found a limit on the size of a bonus in them. LeoVegas, ComeOn and Betsson are also on the Danish Gambling Authority’s list, and on their Danish sites the Danish bonus rules apply, with a limit of 1,000 kr.

MGA casino no deposit bonus

If you are looking for an MGA casino no deposit bonus, the same requirements apply. What you have to do and what you can withdraw must be clear. We do not track MGA casinos’ offers and cannot say who has such a bonus right now. So check that the exact web address is listed with the MGA before you accept.

MGA casino payments: Trustly, PayPal and Apple Pay

Many people search for MGA casinos with Trustly, PayPal or Apple Pay. The Maltese rules we have read do not name specific payment methods, and we do not track what each MGA casino offers, so check the casino’s cashier. None of our nine cards shows Trustly or PayPal, and the three with Apple Pay do not hold an MGA licence.

The rules do cover your money, though. Under Malta’s Gaming Act, player funds must be held in an account with a licensed credit, financial or payment institution, separate from the company’s own money. If you play at a Danish casino from the same group, payments must go through a payment service lawfully offered in Denmark. In Estonia, too, bets must go through a licensed institution such as a bank or a payment institution, as we describe under casinos with an Estonian licence.

How to complain about an MGA casino

The usual route starts with the casino. Under Maltese rules, the casino must look into your complaint straight away and give you an answer within ten days of receiving it. If it needs more time, it can extend the deadline by ten days, but it must tell you so, with its reasons, within the first ten days. With its answer, the casino must tell you how to take the matter further.

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

If you aren’t happy with the answer, you can turn to an independent ADR body. According to the MGA, every MGA-licensed casino must sign up with an ADR body before it goes live and must comply with its binding decisions. If the decision goes your way, the casino has 20 days to comply. If the casino doesn’t comply, the MGA can step in.

For larger claims, the casino may offer mediation instead. Mediation isn’t binding, so the casino must tell you how to get a binding decision. Taking a case to an ADR body doesn’t stop you from going to court.

The MGA’s own complaint form

If you think the casino is breaking the rules, you can also complain directly to the MGA through its complaint form. The MGA handles complaints in English or Maltese and recommends that you try to settle the matter with the casino first. It uses complaints to help it supervise casinos, but since 2019 it has been the ADR body, not the MGA, that decides the dispute itself.

Outside the EU, the route is different. See, for example, how complaints work at Curaçao casinos.

Are MGA casinos safe?

Safer than many, but never without risk. The MGA licence sets clear rules for how a casino treats its players: separate player funds, fixed complaint deadlines and a duty to use an ADR body. It is still not a Danish licence, though, and no licence is a guarantee.

What an MGA licence gives you

• Supervision by an authority in an EU country, with a public register of licences and approved web addresses.
• Player funds that must be kept separate from the casino’s own money and, under the rules, are protected from the casino’s creditors.
• A complaint route with fixed deadlines and an ADR body whose binding decisions the casino must follow.
• Public sanctions when the MGA suspends, cancels or revokes a licence.

What an MGA licence doesn’t give you

• A Danish licence: the casino must get that from the Danish Gambling Authority.
• Danish supervision: an MGA licence doesn’t put the casino under the Danish Gambling Authority’s supervision.
• A regulator that rules on your dispute: that is the job of the ADR body or the courts.
• Protection when you play on a web address that isn’t on the licence’s approved list.

Other licences set other requirements. See, for example, how the Anjouan gaming licence works.

For tips on keeping your gambling under control, see our page about responsible gambling. If you want to talk to someone, you can contact StopSpillet or Center for Ludomani free of charge.