The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), the regulatory body in charge of gambling activities in Malta, announced it suspended the authorization for Tipster Limited to offer gambling operations. The announcement came Monday but according to the Authority is in effect as of June 27, 2023. Backing its decision to suspend Tipster’s license, the MGA said that it is “in accordance with reg. 9 (1) (f) of the Regulations since the Authorized Person (Tipster Limited) is being wound up.”
Although the decision may be subject to appeal, the MGA said that at the moment, the company is no longer allowed to offer gambling activities under a Malta license. However, the regulatory watchdog said that Tipster needs to ensure access to the accounts of its registered players and also proceed with refunding credit for players in accordance with the law.
“The Authorized Person is thus no longer authorized to carry out any gaming operations, but is required to retain and provide access to all registered players to their player accounts and to refund all funds standing to the credit of players in line with the applicable law,“
explains a statement released by the Malta Gaming Authority
The License Suspension Comes at a Difficult Time for the Company
The latest decision of the MGA comes during a difficult time for Tipster. Earlier this year, the business filed for bankruptcy after it was unable to meet its obligations to suppliers, regulators and customers. After that, Dr. Jörg Gollnick from the law firm Heidland Werres Diederichs Rechtsanwälte (HWD) was selected as the provisional insolvency administrator for Tipster. Gollnick was already the provisional insolvency administrator selected for Tipster Service GmbH, a firm that is a part of Tipster’s group of companies.
But Tipster’s troubles do not end there. Recently, Gluecksspiel (GGL), the gambling regulator in Germany, probed Tipster.de’s financial status, compliance with requirements and operations. That probe resulted in the withdrawal of the license of Tipster, providing further negative impact during the difficult time for the company.
The suspension of Tipster’s license comes after recently, MGA confirmed it has taken the decision to cancel MKC Limited’s license. Announced back in June, the Authority cited multiple compliance-related breaches. In light of the breaches, the MGA considered cancellation of the company’s license to be an appropriate enforcement action.