Malta Cancels Goldwin’s Licence for Serious Regs Breaches

The Malta Gaming Authority has suspended the Goldwin casino’s gaming licence following a series of regulatory breaches. 

Goldwin, which is registered with the MGA under the licence number MGA/B2C/533/2018 is no longer authorised to operate under the banner of the MGA. The site is still up and the casino seems to be functional, and it may continue to operate if it appeals the decision. The company also has to allow players to access their accounts and refund outstanding balances, so that might be why the platform is still live.

Major Charges for Goldwin

Goldwin faces serious charges for multiple breaches of the MGA Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations. They include a series of actions that the Malta Gaming Authority claim are an imminent threat to players’ interests. That was already reflected in its Trustpilot reviews, with 80% of reviewers giving the casino 1 star.

The infractions listed by the MGA include:

• Regulation 9 (2) (b), which concerns the imminent threat of serious prejudice to players’ interests.
• Regulation 9 (1) (c), which deals with the failure to comply with legal or regulatory obligations.
• Regulation 9 (1) (i), related to the company’s failure to meet commitments to players.
• Regulation 9 (1) (m), where the MGA determined there was sufficient reason to suspend the licence.

How Many Malta Casinos Have Been Struck Off?

This does not happen often. In 2022 the Malta Gaming Authority suspended just four licences, and took action against six online casinos in the first seven months of 2023. 

So the regulator is baring its teeth with increasing frequency, but then there are 350+ online casinos registered with the MGA and so only a small fraction fall foul of the regulations. 

Recent big name casualties include Rush Gaming, Genesis Global, Winners Malta Operations Ltd and SFJL Holding Ltd. All of them had their licence canceled due to serious breaches of the regulations.