After consultation with Silvio Schembri, the parliamentary secretary for financial services, digital economy & innovation, the MGA board has appointed Farrugia to succeed Joseph Cuschieri, who stepped down last week.

Farrugia has been with the MGA since January 2014, having joined the regulator as chief operations officer before taking on the role of chief regulatory officer two years later. In that role he was responsible for all the regulatory activities of the authority with specific focus on regulatory supervision, authorisations, compliance and player support.

He has also served as a member of the regulator’s Supervisory Council and co-chaired the Fit & Proper Committee, which assesses the suitability of individuals and companies applying for an MGA licence.

Prior to joining the MGA he spent nearly eight years with Vodafone Malta in a number of positions.

Farrugia has also served as a board member of the Gaming Regulators European Forum (GREF) and as a member of the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) and the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA).