MGA: Low suspicious betting reporting shows tight risk control

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) said that a licence holder filing few Suspicious Betting Reports (SBRs) does not mean the operator is not monitoring its markets. In a thematic review published on 27 October, the regulator examined licence holders that sent very few or no reports during 2025.

The review covered how B2B and B2C licence holders identified, assessed and escalated possible integrity concerns. Fieldwork was carried out between the second and fourth quarters of 2025. Findings were presented in anonymised and aggregated form.

According to the report, the main reason for low numbers is tight risk management. Many operators applied strict betting limits, kept market offerings cautious and removed events that were particularly open to manipulation. Some youth matches were cited as examples in this context. The authority said these choices reduce exposure to integrity threats from the outset.

The second reason is heavy reliance on third-party integrity monitoring firms. In these arrangements, internal investigations often only start when a partner raises an alert. A quiet data feed therefore means fewer cases. Some groups holding licences in several jurisdictions had also not realised that similar activity by players on their MGA licence should be reported to Malta. The authority said this misunderstanding was corrected during discussions.