From Valletta’s limestone balconies to Manila’s neon skyline, the global appetite for online gaming is booming—and Filipinos are spinning the reels with a fervour that would make even the most seasoned Maltese punter blink. As Malta cements its status as the EU’s iGaming capital, curiosity naturally turns eastward: what are the hottest online casinos in…
Alex Borg finds common ground with Malta Chamber in first meeting as PN leader By Hot Malta Newsroom | 09:45 • 18 June 2025 Floriana’s historic Palazzo Ferreria was buzzing long before 8 a.m. yesterday, as Pastizzi Express scooters lined the pavement and suited CEOs queued alongside shop-floor stewards. They were all there for the…
**London Fashion Week hopes to usher in new era with leadership change** As London Fashion Week kicks off this weekend, the global style capital is quietly undergoing its most dramatic transformation in decades – and Malta’s tight-knit fashion community is watching with bated breath. With Caroline Rush stepping down as CEO of the British Fashion…
Equal pay for work of equal value is no longer a Brussels buzz-phrase whispered in corridor meetings—it has landed squarely on the Maltese shop-floor, in our open-plan offices, in the fields of Għarb and the gaming towers of St Julian’s. Last month, when the EU Pay Transparency Directive was transposed into local law, Labour Minister…
From the limestone balconies of Valletta to the iGaming towers of St Julian’s, Maltese are asking the same question that once greeted the Knights’ silver scudi: “Will this new money last?” Crypto, however, is not the paper promise of 18th-century Order of Malta assignats that collapsed when Napoleon’s fleet sailed into Grand Harbour. It is…
**BNF Bank’s €1 Million Tech Misstep: A Cautionary Tale for Malta’s Digital Banking Dreams** In a country where village festa fireworks still compete for attention with smartphone screens, Malta’s banking sector just received a very expensive reality check. BNF Bank has revealed it spent over €1 million rectifying a failed system upgrade – a sobering…
**Ex-Steward Malta CEO Armin Ernst Pleads Not Guilty to Hospitals Deal Charges as Nation Watches Courtroom Drama Unfold** The ghosts of Malta’s most controversial healthcare deal returned to haunt the nation yesterday as former Steward Malta CEO Armin Ernst pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from money laundering to fraud in connection with the hospitals…
Valletta shop-owner Maria Spiteri still remembers the day her 72-year-old father agreed to put the family’s 50-year-old ironmongery online. “He watched me scan a €3 packet of screws into the new web-shop and whispered, ‘Nistgħu naraw jekk jixtru minn Għawdex ukoll?’” Two months later, 18 % of the store’s sales were coming from Gozo, and…
Malta opposes plan to centralise crypto regulation supervision at EU level ——————————————————— Valletta’s skyline may be changing with every new fintech plaque that appears on 18th-century limestone, but the island’s government is determined that Brussels won’t be the one holding the rubber stamp. Last week Malta formally rejected a European Commission proposal to shift day-to-day…
**Aron Mifsud Bonnici Seeks to Dodge Money Laundering Trial with Fine Deal** In a move that has sent ripples through Malta’s tight-knit business community, prominent entrepreneur Aron Mifsud Bonnici has petitioned the courts to settle his money laundering case through a financial penalty rather than face a potentially explosive trial. The request, filed last week…
Aron Mifsud Bonnici, the criminal-law heavyweight whose surname alone evokes centuries of Maltese legal lore, has quietly filed a judicial protest that could snuff out one of the island’s most politically-charged tax-evasion cases before it ever sees a jury. The move, confirmed to Hot Malta by two separate court sources, targets the Commissioner for Revenue…
**Maltese in France Caught in Crossfire as Macron Faces Day of ‘Anger’** Valletta – While Malta slept through a quiet Wednesday night, Maltese expatriates living in France woke to the sound of sirens and shuttered Métro stations as the country ground to a halt in the largest wave of strikes since President Emmanuel Macron pushed…
