Dr Andrew J Zammit

Andrew is the firm’s managing partner and is actively involved in mergers and acquisitions and corporate and leveraged finance transactions, licensing of financial services businesses with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), and licensing of gaming businesses with the Malta Gaming Authority. He has a keen interest in the TMT and Fintech space, having pioneered the licensing of various fintech and online gaming operators in Malta, and led various corporate acquisitions including the sale of Malta’s largest quad telecoms player, besides many significant acquisitions within the online gaming sector.

Andrew is also a Council Member of the Institute for Financial Services Practitioners (IFSP) since 2018.

Dr Jackie Mallia

Jackie specialises in the provision of legal support to clients within the fields of Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Data Protection. She has extensive experience in advising both the private and the public sector, having assisted private clients in numerous corporate matters, as well as various governments and authorities, both within and outside the European Union, to formulate and draft legislative frameworks in her fields of expertise. Her current focus is on artificial intelligence (‘AI’) and other disruptive technologies and she was one of the experts appointed to the Malta.AI Task Force, heading the Legal and Ethics Working Group. She regularly provides support services to investors and entities within the sectors of various emerging and innovative technologies, including AI, blockchain and eSports. She also assists entities within all sectors to protect, secure and enforce legal rights to intangible assets (under copyright, trademark, and similar regimes), as well as to fulfil their compliance obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) and transposing legislation.

Mr James Bartolo

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.