MGA Review: Low Betting Integrity Reports Reflect Tight Risk Controls
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) says a low number of suspicious betting reports does not necessarily mean an operator is failing to detect wrongdoing.
In a thematic review of the integrity of sports betting sites, the regulator found that many licensees with little or no reporting maintained tight risk controls that kept integrity threats off their books in the first place.
The MGA looked at monitoring, escalation and controls at licensed businesses that had filed few or no Suspicious Betting Reports since the reporting requirements were introduced.
The sample was risk-based and covered both B2B suppliers and B2C operators. Fieldwork ran from Q2 2025 to Q4 2025, using supervisory meetings, submitted documents and follow-up clarifications, and the findings are published in anonymised, aggregated form.
Many licensees in the sample ran restrictive betting limits and conservative market offerings. Some had also removed events judged to involve many vulnerable people, such as certain youth competitions.
The MGA said those measures reduced exposure to integrity risks and made suspicious activity less likely.
Its overall conclusion was that low reporting volumes reflected risk management and reliance on external monitoring, rather than a simple absence of detection capability.
Where Operators Fell Short
The review was not a clean bill of health. Several licensees relied on external integrity monitoring bodies and only opened an internal investigation when a partner sent an alert.
In those cases, the MGA warned that suspicious activity was less likely to be spotted or reported if no alert came.
The regulator also found that some groups holding licences in several jurisdictions mainly saw suspicious patterns under foreign regulators.
Some were unaware that activity in the same market involving players under the MGA licence also has to be reported to the MGA. The authority said it corrected that misunderstanding during the review.
Escalation processes existed everywhere, but their formality varied. Escalation usually began with trading or risk teams before moving to compliance, where the person responsible for compliance generally decided whether to file a report.
The MGA said written policies did not always name the key compliance function, spell out the route from detection to reporting, or document training and market-suspension practices that operators described verbally.
It asked for revisions so the paperwork matched what actually happens.
Monitoring Tools And Athlete Safeguards
Monitoring set-ups differed widely. Some licensees used sportsbook platforms with real-time visibility of bets and colour-coded risk indicators.
Smaller operators ran simpler systems backed by round-the-clock internal risk teams, and B2B licensees often depended on feeds from integration partners.
Common warning signs included clusters of bets on a single market within a short window, accounts sharing personal or technical identifiers and unusual stake patterns.
For athletes betting on their own sport, licensees used external databases or manual checks, and some restricted accounts linked to sport.
None of the licensees sampled had a formal agreement or memorandum of understanding with a sports governing body. The MGA does not require one, though it said such arrangements could add value.
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What Happens Next
Licensees told the regulator they want clearer guidance on what counts as suspicious betting.
The MGA said it prefers an open approach because rigid thresholds could discourage reporting of cases that still merit review.
It also noted that sports associations may want to explore a register of professional athletes, while flagging data protection and international coverage as hurdles.
The authority encouraged operators to tighten escalation procedures, review policies regularly, train staff, keep monitoring data accessible, and said it will use the findings to shape future guidance.
Readers following wider industry developments can find more in our gambling news coverage.
