MGA Recognition Notice

Recognition or a full Malta licence?

These routes answer different starting situations. Choose by the licence you hold and the business you plan, not by the lowest fee.

For supplier classification, the Malta B2B gaming licence assessment helps frame the activity question. A material gap in the foreign licence points to a full application instead.

What evidence does the application need?

Prepare a traceable file linking the applicant, foreign authorisation and activity. The MGA instructions call for the foreign licence and appropriate English translation, entity and director information, good-standing evidence, payment evidence and a certified legal opinion. Player-facing applicants also supply their relevant domains.

Build an evidence index so the person reviewing the application can find each underlying document. Record the document date, issuing body, expiry and the proposition it supports. Use the licence certificate and its conditions, not a marketing description.

Make the legal opinion specific

The opinion must connect the foreign framework to the actual authorised products and operations. Organise the work around these questions:

• Which legal entity holds which licence, and for what period?

• What products and activities are authorised?

• What territorial scope is permitted, including supply outside the issuing jurisdiction?

• What regulatory supervision applies to those operations?

• How do the licensed services or supplies compare with the relevant Maltese categories?

• Where gaming services are involved, what applicable AML/CFT obligations and compliance evidence exist?

Answer each one from documents. A general statement that the jurisdiction is well regulated answers none of them, and the MGA can reach its own view whatever the opinion says.

What does a Recognition Notice cost?

The MGA lists an annual €5,000 Recognition Notice fee payable in advance. The application instructions also require evidence of a €5,000 payment. Before budgeting, check the invoice and the period it covers: the two references may describe one payment, not two.

Add legal-opinion work, certification, translation, advice and the business's existing foreign licensing obligations as separate lines. For the distinction between authorisation fees and tax exposure, consult the Malta gaming taxation and fees model.

Annual maintenance and changes

A Recognition Notice certificate has a one-year validity cycle and requires annual maintenance review.

The MGA maintenance and changes procedure explains the portal applications for the anniversary and for changes during the year.

Before filing annual maintenance, compare the current foreign licence, directors and domains with the MGA record. During annual maintenance the portal shows your record as read-only, so file any corrections through the change process first.

Use an anniversary register with a responsible owner for:

• foreign licence expiry and renewal evidence;

• recognition anniversary and payment reference;

• director and entity details;

• authorised products, licence conditions and legal-opinion scope;

• player-facing domains where applicable;

• changes requiring a separate portal submission.

When adding a foreign licence or changing the products covered by it, determine whether updated certification or a legal opinion is needed. Renewing the foreign licence does not complete the recognition maintenance.

What recognition does not establish

Recognition concerns the authorised activity in or from Malta. It does not export MGA permission to a destination country, erase the conditions of the foreign licence or settle the business's tax and governance obligations.

For example, the Great Britain regulator states that a foreign gambling licence does not permit the provision of gambling facilities to British consumers. A recognition strategy must therefore keep destination-market permission separate from the Malta authorisation question.

If the structure changes, reassess which entity carries each responsibility. The MGA key function planning guide explains the appointment questions for full-licence businesses; check how much of that model applies to a recognised foreign operation.

Prepare a recognition assessment with MGL

Start with the existing licence and conditions, issuing authority, licensed entity, approved products, expiry date, target markets and the intended Malta activity. Include any restrictions or pending changes rather than waiting for them to appear during review.

Discuss Recognition Notice eligibility with MGL to establish which documents and professional work are needed before an application is prepared. A scope review should identify the evidence gap and alternative route where recognition cannot be supported.