As communicated by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) on 20th of October 2021, a series of amendments were published in regards to the Gaming Authorisations and Compliance Directive (Directive 3 of 2018) (the “Directive”), in parallel with a new Policy on the Eligibility and Ongoing Competency Criteria for Key Persons (the “Eligibility Policy”).
Following this amended Directive and the requirements established under the newly issued Eligibility Policy, the bar has also been raised on the expertise and ongoing training and professional education for Key Function Holders (KFHs). This training has been placed as fundamental for the proper fulfilment of the regulated role of a KFH under the Gaming Act.
The MGA introduced mandatory CPD requirements on KFHs, meaning that key persons are now required to show to the MGA that they have attained a minimum number of CPD hours each calendar year for the previous certification period, for successful renewal of their Key Function Certificate.
The minimum annual CPD requirements are 5 hours for the CEO Key Function role, while 10 hours will apply for the roles of Key Operations, Key Compliance, Key Legal, Key Privacy, MLRO, CTO and Internal Audit.
Such an obligation on key persons will ensure that they apply ongoing efforts to obtain knowledge and keep abreast with relevant developments to the respective role, and to gain/retain the skill, knowledge and expertise necessary for its effective execution.
In this respect, CSB Group’s iGaming Legal team will be delivering training through the iGaming Academy. The following virtual courses have been developed specifically for key persons to fulfil the above-mentioned obligation.
