James Bartolo

Bio

James Bartolo is an experienced Gaming Advisor at GVZH Advocates, specialising in Maltese gaming law. Since joining GVZH in March 2022, James has excelled in providing comprehensive legal and regulatory assistance, including collating and submitting Gaming Licence applications, assisting in the drafting of Legal Opinion letters, and developing company policies and procedures. His role also involves managing compliance-related issues with the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), ensuring both operational and technical adherence to regulations.

James’s current expertise is firmly rooted in his previous tenure at the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) within the Authorisations Unit, providing him with an in-depth understanding of the regulatory landscape, serving as a competitive advantage in his current advisory role. His responsibilities at MGA included reviewing corporate structures, KYC reports, source of wealth and source of funds, operational and technical documentation, gaming system specifications, licensing and loan agreements, as well as understanding foreign markets’ authorisations for local recognition. Additionally, compliance-related work involved reviewing changes in shareholding, additions of game types or verticals, new games and domains, and other changes to authorisations.

At GVZH Advocates, James is not only proficient in gaming regulatory matters but also plays a pivotal role in the administration of the cluster, executing staff training programs, and driving business development through client networking and conference participation. He has represented GVZH Advocates at major industry events such as SiGMA, ICE London, iGaming Next and Casino Beats.

Education

James holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Criminology from the University of Malta and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration.

Languages

James is fluent in both Maltese and English, with a basic understanding of Italian.