The board of the Malta Gaming Authority has appointed Heathcliff Farrugia as its new chief executive officer, effective from Tuesday, April 24.

Farrugia succeeds outgoing CEO Joseph Cuschieri as head of the Maltese regulator. Cuschieri was appointed chief executive of the Malta Financial Services Authority earlier this month.

With an MBA from the UK’s University of Leicester, Farrugia joined the gaming authority as chief operations officer in 2014 – a position he held for two years until his appointment as chief regulatory officer in 2016.

Farrugia has also been a member of the Supervisory Council, and co-chaired the Fit and Proper Committee, assessing the fitness and properness of individuals and companies applying for a MGA licence.

Prior to joining the MGA, Farrugia spent much of his career in the telecoms sector, specifically with Vodafone Malta, where he held a range of managerial positions.