Malta regulator suspends Genesis Global's license after company files for insolvency

The Malta Gaming Authority announced Tuesday it is suspending the authorization awarded to Genesis Global Limited. The move, which became effective on Monday and may be subject to an appeal by the company, comes after a few troubled months faced by the business, which in December filed for insolvency.

This sanction is being imposed upon the operator breaching Reg. 9 of the watchdog's regulations. "The Authorised Person is thus no longer authorized to carry out any gaming operations, register new players or accept new customer deposits, and must continue collaborating with the Authority," the MGA said.

The news comes as no surprise given the trouble last few months of the company, which wound up its operations in Malta in December, laying off around 140 remaining employees around Christmas. Employees were told Genesis Global filed for insolvency and that they were being made redundant after it had decided to “permanently close its operation in Malta," Times of Malta reported last month.

Employees were told they could not be promised their December salary and neither any other payments they were due, and were also told to take any pending vacation leave. They received an email informing them that the company had started proceedings in court for it to be declared insolvent after it faced “serious financial difficulties."

The news came just weeks after co-founder and CEO Ariel Reem announced on LinkedIn that he had left the business. According to the Malta Business Registry, more directors resigned from the company in the weeks before the announcement, including the company secretary.

Genesis Global employed some 200 people in Malta, but had already started shedding workers ahead of December, laying off between 30 and 40 people after it became evident that it was running into the ground. And earlier in 2022, the company was slapped with a £3.8 million fine by the UK Gambling Commission after a two-year investigation identified several breaches in anti-money laundering and social responsibility regulations that occurred in 2020, reports the cited source.