EMD – One Stop. Full Stop.

Although the iGaming industry is evolving and changing rapidly, Malta remains a dynamic hub for remote gaming and a leading remote gaming jurisdiction in the EU. Along with its tax benefits, regulatory framework and more than 300 licence holders and nearly 130 pending licences, Malta still attracts large gaming operators with a proven track record of good business practice and financial stability, as well as, innovative start-up operators.

However, establishing business in a completely new jurisdiction, where regulations, financial services, E-commerce, compliance and human resources are an unknown matter for the operators, can prove to be a very complex process.

An operator establishing its gaming business in Malta requires the services of a number of professionals, such as, lawyers, accountants, technical support specialists, HR advisors and recruiters, as well as, compliance personnel, with specific expertise in gaming, in order to assist the operator throughout the process of acquiring a Remote Gaming Licence, compliance with the Remote Gaming Regulations, co-location of servers, key official services, back-office management and recruitment of staff. What an operator needs for establishing its gaming business in Malta and acquiring a gaming licence in the most effective and efficient manner is a ‘one stop shop’ where there is only one point of reference without the need of outsourcing any services required. Look no further!

WHO WE ARE

Based in Malta and specialised in the provision of services to particular niche markets, including iGaming, EMD is a multidisciplinary organisation offering services in the legal, tax, financial, accounting, recruitment and translation fields. Based in state of the art offices at the Valletta Waterfront, EMD engages a staff complement of over 70 persons. The firm’s ethos is to provide its clients with a one-stop-shop service in a professional and efficient manner, both with regards to the setting up/licensing process as well as with compliance with all legal obligations thereunder and company administration services. Consequently, one can find all services under one roof with one sole point of contact, rather than having different service providers for different services.

i-Gaming is one of the areas of specialisation of our firm. The Firm’s partners and personnel have been assisting clients since the inception of the gaming industry in Malta in 2004 and the firm also engages consultants who were previously employed by the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority. EMD’s client portfolio comprises several gaming operators licensed in Malta, including some of the world’s major players in the industry.

HOW WE CAN ASSIST YOU

Through our fully fledged iGaming department and law firm consisting of 15 lawyers, EMD provides clients with a comprehensive professional support service in all legal matters relating to their iGaming business requirements. These  include remote gaming licensing, regulatory and legal advice, contract drafting and vetting, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property advice, administration services, regulatory risk and assessment, payment solutions, litigation services, trust and fiduciary services. 

Malta Remote Gaming Regulations require that every Remote Gaming Licence granted by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority has at least one Key Official. The Key Official must be director of the locally registered company and also resident in Malta. The firm also provides Key Official services, which includes expertise and physical presence, to its iGaming clients.

Besides assisting clients to obtain their gaming licences in Malta and ensuring continued compliance with the licence conditions, EMD’s accounting and financial services department, composed of 15 accounts/tax advisors, also provides clients with other advisory and support services which are required by the gaming operators to run their operations efficiently and effectively. These services include, company formation and ancillary services, local and international taxation advice, accounting services, payroll services, back-office management, work permit applications, employment matters, relocation and residency, corporate management and administration and opening of bank accounts. This department has, on many occasions, assisted and advised the directors and shareholders of the gaming companies, on an individual basis, to benefit from the various tax and other incentives offered by Maltese legislation.

The Information Communication and Technology (ICT) department, whose core areas of specialisation include business process optimization services, ICT advisory services, ICT project management, ICT compliance and risk management services, software development and integration services and information security consulting.

 Amongst other services, we assist the firm’s gaming clients in the selection and implementation of systems - software, hardware, networks and telecommunications, as well as, ICT technical support and software development services.

Our project management services are based on proven experience and methodologies to deliver ICT solutions that meet the business technology needs of our iGaming clients. We can provide your iGaming operation with project leaders for virtually any ICT implementation or development project.

Processing personal data and information in a secure manner is critical to every iGaming operation. An adequate information security policy is a basic requirement for every applicant for a Remote Gaming Licence in Malta. Our consultants can carry out a high-level security review to assess how your organisation currently measures up to the relative information security management system standard and recommend steps to improve security in areas of weakness.

Effective disaster recovery planning significantly reduces the impact and loss of profits arising from any disruption to normal business operations and it is one of the major requirements for acquiring a licence in Malta. Our approach towards disaster recovery is focused, practical, and economical.  Our focus is on what matters most - identifying and protecting the critical business processes and resources required to maintain an acceptable level of operation.

As part of its multi-disciplinary approach, EMD also offers recruitment services to its clients via a specialised team of consultants with over 20 years of experience both locally and internationally. Our diversified and experienced consultants have delivered unique solutions and strategies to a wide spectrum of gaming clients providing them with confidential and integral recruitment services, both locally and abroad. Working with a diverse client base across the gaming sector, our recruitment services focus on identifying the most suitable personnel for our gaming clients and recruiting them into junior or senior level posts.

In order to complement the extensive number of services offered by EMD, Euris Consult Limited, the firm’s translations arm employs 14 in-house, full-time translators and engages the services of a vast network of freelance translators from all over the globe, thus enabling the firm to provide translations from and into any language combination. Euris Consult was one of the pioneering translation companies in Malta, and now has the largest in-house unit of translators, revisers and proof readers in Malta. Apart from being one of the service providers to a number of EU Institutions, one of the core services of the company is the translation and localisation of gaming websites into different languages, thus enabling the operator to reach a vaster and more diverse clientele. Compliance with established industry standards and the use of cutting-edge translation software are standard practice of the company.  Euris Consult is the only translation agency in Malta that is SDL Trados Certified.

Over the past years many international jurisdictions have been considering the liberalisation of remote gaming and opening and regulating the remote gaming market in their respective jurisdictions. Malta recognises the importance of the online gaming industry and it is considering certain measures which it can take in order to become flexible and thus more competitive in anticipation of the worldwide changes and developments in the gaming industry. Should you decide to choose Malta as your jurisdiction EMD is your logical partner – Look no further!